Ruby and Martin
by Emersonian
Summary: Aliens and humans must work together to find Ronilda Stoppable and save the universe from annihilation. While struggling with his status, his lost love, and his newfound bonding with Ruba Kala (aka Ruby Kyle), Martin Fiske is quite convinced that something is disturbingly wrong with Ron Stoppable ever since he split his good and bad sides in half. [FANFIC CANCELLED]
1. The Departure

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 1: Departing

_Nearly four years ago_

Ruba reached and touched the cracks with the tip of her finger. She felt her body getting sucked through as if she were dust being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. Her butt hit something gooey, softening her landing, but as she gets up, she started to wish that this was all a nightmare and she'd wake up in her bed. The egg-shaped temple, beautiful on the outside, was monstrous on the inside. Pillars and beams of abstract red and white supported every wall and ceiling. It made her think of spiderwebs made out of blood and the gooey floor was a purée of bones.

"You really have a way for interior design," she blurted out.

"**Not my idea.**"

She heard her voice, purring and echoing far more than her hosts' spirits did. A purple string, some sort of non-corporeal being, slithered from the bleeding beam above me. She was made of energy and yet Ruba felt like she was seeing a nest of snakes. This is Violet's essence.

"**I was wondering if you'd be the one presented to me****,**" Violet said to Ruba.

"How do you know?" Ruba felt an unusual pain on her chest.

"**A girl found with my birthmark is like a new eye on the outside world for me. You can say that spying on their lives helps me pick favorites.**" Violet started slithering up Ruba's arm and the latter almost sweated on the inside. "**That's a lovely necklace. Great symbol of familial acceptance.**"

Ruba covered her necklace with her hands even though the gesture itself seems stupid.

"**No need to hide secrets from me****.**" Violet's moved her way up to Ruba's neck. "**So, you think you're fit to be my host?**"

"I just want to go back to Earth," Ruba gulped.

"**So what? You don't love your Felindrax family? Your friends don't matter to you?**"

"Do you want a host?"

"**What do you want?**"

Ruba felt intense feelings growing. Her shoulders were heavier than usual because of Violet's essence slithering over them and she managed to grow to the size of a constrictor. How could Ruba forget that Violet was the goddess of frustration? She feeds on it and spreads what she has consumed the same way one spreads the cold. Ruba's nose inhaled and her mouth exhaled calmly. The weight compressed off her shoulders and now the godly essence faced her.

"**OK, you convinced me****.**" Violet sounded like she could be shrugging. "**You'll be my host.**"

"Really?" It felt too good to be true.

"**Just a few things,**" Violet added. "**First, watch out for Iron. He's your most dangerous opponent in your duty. Delay him or find Royal's host before he does, because in any case scenario, Iron will try to kill you.**"

Ruba nodded.

"**Second, watch out for how you get injured. Fatal injuries, I can cure, but it will cost you three strikes. The first two strikes will boost your powers, but if you hit the third, I'll be fully reincarnated and you'll never return.**"

"For a goddess who needs to live in a mortal body to spread her judgment, you don't seem to be a big fan of the process," Ruba remarked.

"**I'm a believer in free will?**" Violet shrugged. "**The last thing. I highly recommend you stay prudent to those you love most.**"

"What?" But her essence had disappeared. The temple shook and Ruba's skin began to sweat. Something hit and stung it, and Ruba saw the red specks of blood dropping from the melting pillars and hitting her. She ran to find the doorway from which she came in, but all the walls were as smooth as new polished metal. Her fist banged the wall and when the melting blood made a knee-level pool, she screamed.

"Help!" Pain jerked its way up her bones, she lost her balance and landed in the blood pool. Her muscles were killing her as she tried swimming in the red liquid. An exploding agony neutralized Ruba's senses and she drowned.

_Present day Earth, a few days after the events of RJ AND MARTIN_

"Ruba? RUBA,SNAP OUT!"

Ruba fell off her seat after Diamona practically yelled at her.

"Diamona?" She rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Still 10am on the human clock. I guess Violet's not talking to you right now, because you normally have a spaced out expression whenever she talks to you in your head. Also, you dozed off reading the newspaper."

Ruba got up and noticed the newspaper she had dropped. She picked it up and noticed the Examiner's headline 'POSSIBLE OFFSPRING, A MONSTER. WORLD SAVED BY ALIEN SUPERHERO.'

The news had spread quickly on Earth, how Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable had a daughter with powerful Mystical Monkey Power, only in her case, it wasn't MMP but the essence of Royal, a space alien god of power. The world was both shocked and enraged on how their formerly favorite heroes had given birth to a monster who almost destroyed New York with the help of some aliens (the newspapers mentioned nothing about Ronilda's weaknesses exposing her to brainwashing from both the late Wardeth, whose soul now rested with his parents Warhok and Warmonga, and Iron the god of age, who was still out there in the universe, hoping to force Ronilda into fully reincarnating as Royal and nuke the universe... again).

Global Justice tried their lousiest methods to hold back the press and angry civilians from the base where the aliens were preparing their spaceship for departure. The press was mainly interested in the aliens, because unlike the Lorwardians, the Felindrax had no interest in invading Earth, and the angry civilians were more interested in throwing between a riot or a march against the Stoppables. Either to express rage against breeding a monster or accusations of child abuse, whichever one preferred.

"Where are Flora and the others?" Ruba threw away the newspaper in a nearby garbage disposal.

"Loading up what they can on human materials for research. Then again, everything is so primitive." Diamona shrugged as they walked down a hallway, passing the human agents who failed at hiding bitter glares. "Flora's taking too many plants and seeds, we'll have to be on the lookout for potential allergies during the trip."

Ruba shrugged.

"Still frustrated that you haven't killed Ronilda Stoppable yet?" Diamona guessed. "Or that Fiske's idea of extracting Royal out of the pipsqueak seems too easy?"

"Diamona, I don't care what method I have to use or if it means holding Stoppable's corpse, but I'm killing Royal and getting Violet out of me!" Ruba punched her fist on the nearest wall, disintegrating it into violet rubble. "I've been Violet's host for four years now, and before that I spent my life training the energy out of me just so I could get the key to my freedom! I'm almost too close to getting my third strike and inadvertently reincarnating Violet!"

"Is she still not talking to you?"

"What do you think?"

"Considering you haven't spaced out around other people nor have you been screaming in your sleep, I'll go for 'no'. Is she worried that you want to talk to her about Fiske's idea?"

Fiske's idea was to see if there was a way to extract Royal out of Ronilda so that Ruba could spare the host and perform her duty. This was why the humans were to join them for the trip. Ruba had tried to ask the goddess if it was possible, but Violet wouldn't answer.

"You know what? Forget this conversation. Let's go back to the spaceship and have some herbal tea."

_Later_

Flora placed the last bag of cocoa beans into the crate and let the crew workers screw the lid on it.

"Why do you bring so many Earth plants to your trip?" Melgo asked as she watched this crate join the other five crates Flora had filled with flora to be boarded on the spaceship.

"To study them. Grow them. Perhaps evolve them," Flora responded. "We never had the chance to study most of Earth's primitive resources. I don't know yet how they could be of use to us, but they should be worth studying. Perhaps they'd make a lovely human touch for the Felindrax city's exterior design, especially in case we risk entering another fourteenth cycle..."

"Back up!" Melgo paused her. "Human touch? Fourteenth cycle?"

"Well yeah." Flora stared at Melgo as if it was obvious. "The Felindrax have a life, you know. Whenever an alien girl is taken from her home planet and brought to us, the Felindrax take data from her 'life' to add it to their city. Make it more adaptable for her. You'll understand better when you get to see it. Problem is, Ruba is the only human in our ranks. She doesn't have much from Earth in the city, just cotton trees and buildings fashioned like the rowhouse she grew up in Crown Heights."

"That's it?" Melgo frowned while they walked around the deck while the aliens kept preparing the spaceship.

"What? It's basic all over the universe: each god created a planet during or before the cycles, each planet came with a particular resource, and as evolution goes, aliens trade resources among each other. The planets originating before the first cycle are among the elite, especially if their resources have variable uses, and those with a minimal amount of resources... well the clients pay well, but the planets are unbearable to live on. That's why after some cycles, some planets don't have a problem with aliens kidnapping their own, you might as well say it's the norm."

Flora spotted Drakken and Shego coming from behind Melgo's back. The Coraplastia alien grimaced and walked away to go help her alien comrades.

"Interesting conversation?" Drakken asked his daughter.

"Hard to tell. One thing I can guarantee, Earth might not be of any interest to them since we're so primitive." Melgo shrugged.

"Charming," Shego said sarcastically.

"Another thing I can guarantee is that the Felindrax don't really seem to question their methods nor do they seem to care that we'd personally prefer saving Ronilda. Clearly, they don't care what happens, they just want Ruba Kala to finish off Royal to save the universe, even if it means killing Ronilda..." Melgo looked up at the sky and bit her lip. To think that out there, her friend was lost, probably struggling to make sure she survived in some dimension where everyone wanted to kill her. "To think I wasn't there when she needed me..."

"Now there, sweetie." Drakken patted her on the shoulder. "You didn't know."

"I did know, that's the problem!" Melgo shoved away her father's hand. "I never should have told her to keep her Mystical Monkey Power a secret, I never should have let her steal that phony microchiped necklace, I never should have let her alone with Fiske, and I should have told her first hand of Buffy's and my suspicions! Now she's lost in the stars, probably nuking things with her uncontrollable powers while Iron is still out there after her!"

Melgo ran back to the base, probably to find a nearby bathroom to cry, her parents trying to catch up after her. Just as they did that, Diamona and Ruba came out of the spaceship, the human carrying a tray bearing a bottle and three cups.

"Whatever happened to the cold colored skin humans?" Diamona asked.

"Probably still weeping tears because I sent Stoppable flying into outer space." Ruba shrugged. The trio found a couple crates to bring together, the perfect spot to sit on and drink herbal tea.

"Difficult much, Ruba?" Flora poured tea into the cups and distributed them between her and her friends. "They're your species. You tend to be this emotional too, you know."

"I've stopped being this emotional when the Felindrax forced me to grow a spine when I was six. And hosting Violet is already frustrating, it's not exactly easy for me to stay calm and focused when I don't get things done." Ruba took a sip of tea and sighed as the warm liquid went down her stomach. However, the moment she saw a particular group of humans arriving, her tea felt bitter. "You know what, I'd rather drink inside." She grabbed the tray and jumped off the crate.

"Ugh, worst parents of the year and the ghud's family? Let's get out!" Diamona joined her in disgust when she saw what Ruba had noticed: the Stoppables and the Fiskes among the humans getting ready to board the spaceship.

"You REALLY need to rub it in?" Kim Possible gritted her teeth.

"No, you've never seen Diamona literally rub someone." Ruba wrinkled her nose. "She normally writes an essay on a tablet and hits a person's head with it."

"And her main topic would be called 'Kim Possible, She Can Do Anything, Including Being a Horrible Mother. Ron Stoppable, the Stupid Sidekick and Stupid Father. The Fiskes, False Godly Egos who bred a ghud'." Flora joined.

"Godly Host, Useless and Dormant." The trio snarked to the humans before finally disappearing into the spaceship. Martin Fiske, in the meanwhile, groaned and gripped his fists in frustration.

"I hate her," he groaned.

"Might want to be a bit more specific," Gilliard told Martin, who just contended to give him an angry glare.

The humans made their good-byes to those remaining at the GJ base and entered the spaceship. Dousus, the main Felindrax doctor of the ship, took the liberty of giving the humans a tour of the spaceship. Perhaps larger than the Lorwardian spaceship, this one was made of perfect purple and silver colored metals fashioned to resemble some futuristic sea monster's insides. Glass elevators transported them all over the spaceship, getting the humans to witness the wonders they offered: engine room, control room, training room, dining hall, dormitories with annexed bathrooms, cargo loading hall, game room, and television room.

"A television room?" Gilliard's eyes beamed. "Do you guys have video games?"

"Video games as well as access to any televised channel on any planet," Dousus nodded. "Though don't get overexcited. Most of the televised shows in the universe are either the news, reality shows, and universal sports. We're still working on putting the human channels, but we only managed to put two useful networks. The CNN News and whatever Cartoon Network."

The humans scowled at the second channel's mention.

"By tomorrow afternoon, we will be arriving at the Felindrax planet." Dousus got the group to get off the elevator. "Some words of precaution: our civilization is both elite and highly militaristic. 90% of all the crewmembers here are trained soldiers, so I highly disrecommend trying to provoke them. Do not pick fights, to not try to damage the ships, and most of all, DO NOT push Ruba Kala's buttons."

"I think we already know she's a walking hurricane waiting to explode," Shego pointed out.

"Ruba Kala was already dangerous before she even became Violet's host." The doctor's fingers tapped nervously on his arms. "Believe me, I've served time as a doctor in the Felindrax training grounds. When Ruba learned to grow a spine, she started attacking her classmates who tried to bully her for being the weakest. And that was _before _she requested her claw appendages."

"How bad was it?" Will Du dared to ask.

"Try three days of putting rib cages back inside the skin... For thirty children."

"_Thirty?_"

"21 girls, and 9 boys. 17 aliens and 13 fully-cured Felindrax children. Normally, for one child, I could have done it in two hours, but..." He shuddered in disgust before he took a deep breath. "Look, I imagine your current disdain for her, but please do not lash your frustration on Ruba, especially when Violet feeds on frustration. Trust me, with what she deals with, Ruba gets frustrated easily, it's hard for her to stay calm. So no nagging, no hating, no fighting, and no stupid questions with Ruba. Can I trust you?"

The humans nodded in mixed emotions. Dousus sighed in satisfaction.

"Good. Now, since this is your first time boarding a Felindrax spaceship, you'll have to lie down in your dormitories during the departure and the gal-jumper transfer. First-timers tend to get sick easily, particularly those who are not familiar with our technology. Dormitories are co-ed and mixed species, so each of you will be paired with a Felindrax in the dormitories."

Martin raised his hand. "Is this regular or are you purposely having us kept an eye on in our sleep?"

"Both. We do it on a regular basis. Don't be too frightened, we're usually relaxed when we're off the clock," Dousus joked. "Still, don't take the privilege of harassing the Felindrax, especially if you're bunking with a soldier. They sleep with one eye open in case danger comes."

Dousus pulled out an alien tablet and tapped on the screen, summoning some Felindrax crewmembers to come and bring the humans to their dormitories.

"Wait." Dousus halted Martin. "I need to talk to you, Fiske."

_Minutes later_

The main area for dormitories was formatted like a beehive of silver and purple, each numbered door designed like a hexagon.

"Are you purposely trying to have me killed?" Martin demanded to Dousus as they walked down a pathway.

"I know this might seem unpleasant, but you must understand why I requested that you shared a dormitory with Ruba Kala during the trip," Dousus said calmly. "Outside of certain members on this ship and your Global Justice base, no alien knows that you're Crimson's host. Worst case scenario if the rest of the Felindrax found out, they'd beg Ruba to execute you since they don't know your allegiance."

Martin groaned. Now he felt like he was Ronilda back when she was RJ and was convinced that the Fiskes would murder her if they found out she had Mystical Monkey Power. Thank goodness his parents were fond of her. Then of course, the aliens didn't like Ronilda for different reasons, Wardeth because the power she inherited killed his parents, and the Felindrax because the death of the god she hosted would mean liberty for all mortals. It was bad enough for Monkey Fist to find out the bad side of not being the Ultimate Monkey Master, but for Martin to find out he was the host of Crimson the love goddess. Humiliating. Even Iron, or his new nickname Helgiron, almost considered at the last minute to just finish off Martin since Crimson was practically useless.

"Point is, despite your obvious differences, you do have some things in common." Dousus got his attention. "You want to keep Royal from reincarnating and nuke the universe... again and your both godly hosts. Perhaps by trying to reach out to Ruba, you might melt the ice away to better work together. Maybe even indirectly learn from her on how to control your talents as a godly host."

"I've learned Mystical Monkey Power since I could walk," Martin pointed out.

"The thing you call Mystical Monkey Power is just something the gods' essences have created when fused with your ancestor's skills in Tai Shing Pek Kwar. It is only a mere percentage of what comes with being a host. Ah, here we are."

They reached a door with the number 231. Dousus raised his hand to touch the hand scanner, but before he could lay it on the screen, the door immediately opened, letting the two men step in. Ruba Kala was lying on the lower bunk bed, her eyes glued on a comic book. Piles of books, magazines, and comic books rested by her bed.

"Catching up on years of missed reading?" Dousus asked.

"For primitive beings who waste such an amount of paper for things outside of historical manuscripts, humans do know how to invent distracting stories," Ruba shrugged passively.

"I bet the researchers will just love dissecting such information. Well, I'd advise you two to get settled. The spaceship will depart soon."

And to that, Dousus left them. Martin looked nervously between the door and Ruba Kala, who took the opportunity of Dousus' leaving to toss aside the comic book and pull something out of her pillow, something that looked like a folder dossier. Martin immediately recognized the logo of the U.S Army.

"You broke in the U.S military base and stole a file?" Martin asked with random curiosity.

Ruba sighed. "The Felindrax would punish me for doing so if I wasn't Violet's host, but I had to. With the crewmates busy getting human goods on this ship, Flora helped me break in a U.S Army base with whom Global Justice was associated with." She frowned as she saw the content of the folder, full of images, profile pages, and some ripped out newspaper article.

This didn't make sense, but Martin sat down next to her to have a view of the dossier. It belonged to a certain Arthur Kyle, a U.S veteran known for his bravery in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, and married to a nurse, Celestine d'Arc Kyle. There were also mentions of Arthur's brother, Robert Kyle, who was an astronaut constantly travelling between the Earth and the Moon. One of the pictures showed them at some kind of outdoor barbecue, but what shocked both of the readers was the small brown-haired child laughing while Arthur Kyle gave her a piggyback ride.

"Is that you?" Martin looked at Ruba, but she said nothing. Martin then saw the child's name written on the back of the picture. "Ruby Kyle... Oh man, I actually heard of you."

"Did you?" She coldly looked at him.

"Just around the time when I was eight and after I freed my parents from the Yono, there was a missing child report on the only American news channel we watch." He pointed at the child on the picture. "They showed you in that picture on the news. They said a veteran and nurse's child had mysteriously vanished in her own house. They searched for days, months, and years, but from their hometown to the black market, the child was nowhere. Even the neighbors didn't see her leave." Martin looked back at Ruba. "You're the child that vanished because the Felindrax took you."

"As if that's new," Ruba said bitterly.

Just then, the spaceship began to rumble. Martin felt his stomach churning and he rushed to their dormitory's window. The spaceship was lifting itself off the ground, leaving behind no signs of dust clouds and allowing Martin to vaguely hear the soothing humming of the engines. In a matter of minutes, the GJ base and then the country began to shrink.

And then it happened: they were out of Earth. Martin had never seen the planet surrounded by an infinite mass of stars, it was such a spectacle. Well, it was a spectacle until he went to puke in the bathroom. Dousus didn't joke about first-timers getting sick. Martin came out dehydrated while Ruba hid away the U.S Army dossier under her pillow.

"So your real name is Ruby, huh?" He said.

"Don't you already know?" She said dismissively.

"Do the Felindrax always rename the girls they kidnap?"

"No."

The speakers in the spaceship announced that the crewmembers and humans were free to move around the ship since it would still be six hours until they reached the first gal-jumper. Ruba made her way out but had enough time to give a warning glare at Martin.

"I won't tell anyone about the dossier," he promised.

"Obviously," she muttered before the door closed after her.

_And Dousus expects me to befriend her? _Martin thought in frustration.


	2. Traveling

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 2: Traveling

The humans didn't have to say much when it came to seeing the Felindrax work ethic since the spaceship finally made it to outer space. Apparently, each crewmate kept herself or himself busy. The captain kept an eye on her crew's performance, the members at the control room manipulated the computers and holographic maps, the engineers ensured the function of the engines, the cargo guards kept inspecting to make sure every item was there, and then those who were off the clock went around in clothing other than their soldier uniforms but still keeping the black-and-purple color code.

One thing that did catch the eyes of the humans, particularly the villains and Will Du, was the training room where some off-the-clock Felindrax chose to go during their spare time. The adult Felindrax practiced in more torturous versions of what the humans would expect in a regular gym, from cardio machines and extreme weight lifting to shooting at holographic dummies and wrestling. And if the adult Felindrax weren't training themselves, they were keeping an eye on the training of the younger Felindrax. And I mean younger as in pre-teens.

"Better aim for that gun."

"Keep yourself straight. If you start moving like a hunchback, you think your enemies will show mercy?"

"You must hit the pressure points."

"Ah, this reminds me of Y.E.A.R.N," Gilliard sighed. "Good times."

"Aren't you concerned that they are putting children in a weapon holding situation?" Will Du asked.

"Speaking of weapon." Buffy pointed at the far end of the training room, where Ruba Kala was talking to some Felindrax members and going over some tablets. When Ruba Kala began talking to the pre-teens, they stood upright and listened to her attentively. When she was done talking, they went back to training, only this time they doubled their efforts. Probably because now, they were aware that Ruba Kala and the adults were taking notes.

"I wonder what they're doing," Buffy said.

"Probably keeping notes down for the kids' future tests." The humans jumped when Flora spoke from behind them. "I apologize. I only went to get myself some tea." She waved the herbal tea bottle in her green hand. Like her other off-the-clock comrades, she had also changed her soldier attire for a black tank top, a green skirt with purple vine patterns, black leggings, and purple heeled shoes. "For your information, your other human friends are good. Motor Ed and Edina are probably annoying the engineers with their motor dork quirks, Camillo is searching through the Universal Web, and your least favorite people are not bound to kiss and makeup anytime soon."

"Let me guess. Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible are not talking to each other?" The Simian Witch guessed.

"Yep. They're keeping their distances for the moment, probably due to their contrasting parental ideologies." Flora took a sip of her tea. "I'm sure they'll get over it eventually."

"Considering they haven't spoken for fourteen years..."

"What were these future tests that you mentioned?" Will Du asked Flora, cutting off the Simian Witch and pointing at the pre-teens training.

"The tests? It's part of Felindrax culture. Helps determine our future. It got a bit more complicated because of the Curse Plague..." She noticed their confused expressions and tried to clarify. "For cycles now, we have specific groups among the original Felindrax: third-cured, who are rather physically weak, half-cured, who have half and half chances of being weak or strong, and then the fully-cured who are strong enough. Most of the male crewmates here are fully-cured Felindrax. Dousus is a half-cured. And then of course, there are foreign alien girls and fully-cured Felindrax girls.

"When we were little, we were all put in the same school when it came to matters like religion, history, economics, and those sorts of academics, but then half of the education of all girls and fully-cured children was split from the third-cured and half-cured."

"The warfare?" Will Du asked.

"Military, mercenary duties, defense, guard duty, and of course, Violet's host." Flora nodded. "Sure, some half-cured boys did get the same training as us if they were physically fit enough. So the Felindrax start off teaching us fighting methods, weapon handling and recognition, and cartography."

"Cartography?"

"Well of course. It's a big universe and you need to know the number of planets, the location coordinates of gal-jumpers, and other stuff. But by the time we reach our pre-teen years... That's when our society starts making observations based on our skill sets, our performances, our talents, and our personalities. Figuring out where to keep us and where to split us, and when you're sixteen, based on where you are placed, you go through a series of tests to determine our place in the society. Then for the next two years, you go under apprenticeship, and when you're eighteen, they also have you pass the test to determine your spouse. Get the marriage and then start your life in the Felindrax society: work your career and raise a family."

"And this system... how does it work with those trained in the military. Also, who makes the observations?"

"Trainers, parents, neighbors, the monarch, the High Priest," Flora listed. "For the 'military' section, they make the observations based on how you develop strategies, how you approach to attack, how do you lead a squad, and how do you perform on missions. They split the students up depending if they have the qualities of a soldier, a general, a spaceship captain, an engineer, a mercenary, or a city defender. And then of course, there are the female fighters who do higher than those categories. Those go for the particular tests reserved to potential godly hosts, four tests based on a candidate's skill in cunningness, awareness, and physical fighting."

"And Ruba Kala got chosen by Violet because she passed the tests."

"Nah. Ruba doesn't really talk much about what happened in the temple when she first stepped there, but whatever happened, Violet chose her."

"But I thought you just said the tests determined her as the host," the Simian Witch said.

"No, the particular tests were to find _a potential host_, not _the host_." Flora shook her head. "By passing those tests, the winner is in a way the people's choice, but the goddess must agree with their choice to make the winner her host. Trust me, I've seen a bunch of tests where the winners got catapulted away from the temple via enchantments. When Violet makes her choice, she makes sure it's the right one."

The speakers announced that dinner would be served in the cafeteria for those who wanted to make sure their stomachs were full before they reached the first gal-jumper.

_Minutes later_

Ruba was a bit tired from tutoring the pre-teens and decided she didn't feel like having dinner. She went back to her dorm and found the place in a mess. Glass shards laid on the floor while blood stained it, and Martin Fiske was pacing around the room, muttering to himself. His hands were crossed behind his back and Ruba noticed the cuts on his right hand.

"Don't humans believe in seven years of bad luck for breaking mirrors?" Ruba asked. She walked over and grabbed his bleeding hand. Martin almost planned to tell her to back off until he saw her eyes and veins turning purple. He then saw the cut areas of his hand glowing in the same hue and healing the cuts until they dissolved back into regular skin. Martin didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt nothing as she used her powers to heal him. This was new to him, since he could usually sense magic's power level whenever it was put to use. When she was done, she let go of him and went to pick up the glass shards. Martin noticed how she used her claws to cautiously pick the glass to avoid getting cut, almost as if her nails were tweezers used to pick off deadly worms. Ruba threw away the shards in the dorm's disposal bin and pressed a button for the broken mirror to be replaced by a new one.

"The next time you try to break something, do it on a pillow," she said.

"Why didn't you just use your powers to fix the mirror?" Martin frowned.

"What, you think I use my powers for something so mundane?" She scowled at him.

"But you used them to heal my hand."

"Because you obviously hit the mirror with a fist of _your _powers." Ruba jumped on her bunk bed in a gruff manner. "You tried to see if Crimson would wake up."

"Such an observer," Martin said.

"Spare your breath. In case you forgot, you're in a spaceship full of aliens who want a universe free of gods and I'm the only one who can give it to them. Should they find out about you..."

"I know the picture." Martin crossed his arms. "How's Violet?"

Ruba ignored him. Just then, the door opened and Diamona came in carrying two trays full of salad bowls and some sort of purple berry cake with yellow frosting and red sauce.

"I figured you were in a bad mood," Diamona smirked at Ruba and raised one of the trays towards Ruba. "You always skip a meal whenever you're in a good mood, so I smuggled you the biggest violberry cake I could find."

This seemed to cheer up Ruba, for she licked her lips in excitement and grabbed the tray off Diamona's hands. The latter chuckled and gave the last tray to Martin.

"Your parents mentioned you're vegetarian. Thank goodness the spaceship's captain is a Coraplastia-native," Diamona said as she handed the second tray to Martin.

"Thank you." He accepted the tray and stared at Ruba, who managed to eat so silently, he couldn't even hear her chew.

"Ruba's stressed out because Violet hasn't been talking to her for days," Diamona whispered to Martin. "Kinda stupid, if you ask me."

"I'm quite sure she can hear you," Ruba remarked.

"THEN I'M SURE SHE CAN HEAR ME WHEN I SAY THAT SHE'S ACTING IMMATURE!" Diamona dramatically raised her voice. "I MEAN COME ON! FOUR YEARS OF BEING IN YOU, YOU'D THINK SHE'D GIVE YOU SOME TRUSTING SLACK! YOU ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORDS!"  
Ruba's expression spaced out, stiffening her body and making her look like her pupils had shrunk.

"Yes!" Diamona raised her fists up. "She's spacing out!"

"And this is good... why?" Martin asked in a puzzled tone.

"Ruba always spaces out whenever she talks to Violet in her head. It's a lot different when Ruba's actually gets drowsy or bored..."

"Diamona, Violet's saying that you're beginning to annoy her," Ruba warned.

"Because I'm saying the truth or she wants me to leave you alone?"

"**JUST GET OUT!**" Ruba's eyes turned violet as the goddess's voice shouted through her host's lips. She pointed to the door, telepathically opening it and Diamona made a run for it before Violet could order Ruba to kick her out. After the door closed, Ruba's eyes came back to normal and she sighed, though Martin couldn't tell if it was in relief or exasperation.

"Feeling better?" Martin asked. "Both of you."

Ruba spaced out and then spoke. "Yeah, we're good. Thank Diamona for ticking Violet out of her brooding."

"**I do not **_**brood**_**. I do a divinely mature silent treatment**," Violet corrected. "**Besides, Diamona ought to know the basics of backing off when people are in a bad mood.**"

"How should anyone know you wanted to be left alone? You live in me and you haven't spoken in days! You got me worried!" Ruba clenched her fists. "Do you have any idea of what it's like when you neglect me like this?"

"**OK, OK, I'm sorry. But could you blame me? How was I to know that you wouldn't take the opportunity to use Fiske's suggestion and use some exorcist technique to pull me out of you?**"

"I kept you in me for four years! As annoying as you can be, do I look like I'd be stupid enough to double-cross my contract with a goddess?"

"**Uh...**" Violet's voice trailed off when she realized Ruba made a point. The latter then got some tranquility to finish eating her violberry cake.

"This has got to be the sixth weirdest conversation I ever witnessed," Martin admitted.

"Only the sixth?" Ruba looked offended. "What was number one?"

"Let's just say it involved waking up to find myself trapped in Amelia Hall's bedroom and she had me tied up for a tea party..."

"Tied up for a tea party?"

"Yes."

"But you're English. Aren't you supposed to drink tea? I mean, it's already the norm for us among the Felindrax to drink herbal tea."

"Because being a nineteen-year-old tied up in an eleven-year-old girl's bedroom full of Cuddle Buddies doesn't sound creepy?"

Ruba scowled at him. "You humans make no sense with your irrational fears. You happen to be a deadly one and you're scared of some plush-loving kid who won't stop stalking you?"

Martin's natural impulse would be to snark, but he remembered what Dousus told him. "Maybe," he mused while Ruba threw away her dirty dishes in the disposal. "What about you? Judging by your tough nails behavior, I'll guess you've handled things that didn't quite terrify you as much as Iron in an old lady's body. You're probably scared of nothing."

"Please, I've dealt with things that give the Felindrax nightmares and would traumatize you humans," Ruba listed. "I was kidnapped when I was a child and made bionic. I requested my nails to fit in better with my more evolved peers. I fought acid- spitting dragons and illegal traffickers. I've been the desired treasure of a multitude of creeps in the universe from monetary consumers, ringmasters with brainwashing tattoos, living statue builders, cult leaders who want Violet's full return, and space vampires with a particular taste for the life forces of godly hosts. I'm also quite disgusted by the colors orange and yellow."

"Eesh. Don't take it badly, but I dread you being a space version of Kim Possible."

"I don't take it badly. Everyone knows me before I even became a godly host."

"Swimming in the pool of popularity?"

"Not really. You honestly think I enjoy being pointed at by some alien gossiping 'Hey, look! It's Ruba Kala, the only human among the Felindrax!' 'I know, right?' 'Say, kind Felindrax, we don't think such a primitive oddball ought to be in your ranks. Might we suggest domesticating her?' 'A delicate, primitive, and rare species is better off well-sealed off for admiration than to be damaged on a field.' 'Hey, look, it's Ruba Kala, the famous Felindrax warrior. Did you know she started off as a weak freak human? Now look at her, she's evolved like us!'" Sensing her frustration growing, Ruba ran to kick the bathroom door, disintegrating it into violet colored dust.

"Ruby..." Martin dared to call her by her human name.

"Don't call me that," she hissed as she threw herself back on her bed. Martin bit his lip while Ruba did her best to hold back the tears, reddening her face. All of a sudden, he had memories of Ronilda going almost as hysterical as Ruby, getting emotional because she never asked to have Mystical Monkey Power and suffering from its instability due to her uncontrolled emotions. Ronilda Stoppable had dreaded becoming a monster, but Ruba Kala had willingly forced herself to be one because she didn't want to be seen as a weak being by her more evolved alien surrounding.

The walls began to shake around them. "What's happening?" Martin did his best to keep himself frozen to the floor.

"We reached the gal-jumper," Ruba said.

_Meanwhile_

The humans all came to see everything from the control room. The giant glass screen revealed the approach of a large donut shaped satellite. Once the Felindrax tapped in the coordinates, the satellites inner, empty circle got filled by what looked like a portal of blue and purple.

"Hold on to your inner organs!" One of the Felindrax shouted. At full speed, the spaceship made its way into the portal, and the other side startled the humans. The spaceship was now traveling in what looked like some kind of trail with the same coloring as the gal-jumper's portal, as if the spaceship was a prey making its way down a snake's stomach. On the outside of the trail, other two-colored trails could be see floating in outer space, and hundreds of other spaceships could be seen flying through them.

"My god, it's like an outer space highway!" Drakken exclaimed. "It's amazing!"

"Or a wicked alien skate park! Seriously!" Motor Ed joined in.

"Yes, the gal-jumper satellites allow us to access specific travel rings to make inter-planetary voyages faster," Dousus explained. "If it weren't for advanced technology these days, we'd be travelling in the regular three million light years and not in 24 hours."

"But what of the chances of collapsing with other spaceships?"

"Impossible. Spaceships can only travel in the rings with the proper assigned coordinates. We put in the coordinates for the VR-Ring to go from your world to ours, so we can only interact with spaceships in this ring."

The door to the control room opened up and Martin came in. As Dousus was talking with the other humans, Monkey Fist and the Simian Witch distanced themselves in order to talk to their son.

"How are you bearing with Ruba Kala?" Monkey Fist asked.

"You want the expected news or the unexpected?" His son asked.

"The unexpected."

"Clearly she's a victim of psychological abuse, probably a case just as bad as Ronilda's. Living with aliens for fourteen years has caused her to believe she must change out of her humanity to be better accepted."

"Oh my." The Simian Witch looked alarmed.

"What about you? Did you see anything with the Stoppables?"

"We only saw Kim Possible when she took her dinner to eat at her dormitory and as for Stoppable, I have no idea where he is," Monkey Fist shook his head. "I tried every imaginable area in the spaceship, but he's nowhere."

"Have you tried the attic?"

The Fiskes yelped when Diamona spoke randomly behind their backs. "I'm starting to understand why Violet finds you annoying!" Martin said in between breaths.

"I move better unnoticed. It's a Batrishania thing." Diamona shrugged. "I bet if Stoppable was nowhere in sight, he probably got tipped off about the attic. Crewmates tend to go there whenever they need go cool down."

The Fiskes discreetly eyed at the other humans indulged in conversation with Dousus. "It might be best if one of us just goes talk to him," Martin dared to say.

"You think the guy who singlehandedly killed two Lorwardians would want to talk to the villains who tried to kill him at first sight and their son who dated his daughter who happens to be lost in outer space?" Diamona asked. "Then again, he's completely cynical at the moment, probably twice more than you." She pointed at Monkey Fist. "Maybe you should."

Monkey Fist gasped in shock. His wife and son saw no objection and took a step back. "You can't be serious!" He said.

"Well he is _your _arc-foe." Martin shrugged.

"And besides the schemes you and I have shared, you've shared more despicable times with him," the Simian Witch agreed.

"Not to mention you're both fathers to godly hosts." Diamona said.

Monkey Fist sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll give it a shot, but I don't guarantee anything."

His family did their best to give a cheerful thumbs-up. Monkey Fist followed Diamona as they made their way to an elevator. She pushed the highest button three times.

"Martin is right. Your method of bursting into other people's businesses is annoying," Monkey Fist scowled at the alien.

Diamona shrugged. "That's just my way of showing I care."

"Delightful."

"You humans really are bastards, you know that?" Diamona crossed her arms. "Putting your purposes before those of your kids and ditching them for years. You're just as bad as my biological parents when they sold me."

This startled Monkey Fist. "But... I thought the Felindrax kidnapped alien girls."

"They do. But then there are the occasional aliens out there who have no problem allowing other aliens to take away their child, especially if it's a runt."

"But you're at least five feet tall..." He waved his hand over her red and pinkish hair.

Diamona shrugged. "Bionic height enhancement."

The elevator doors finally opened up to some dark room, its silver and purple metal pillars fashioned to make them look like they were in a whale's stomach. The walls looked like they had a regular graffiti on them, but insane blue leftovers of scorching had destroyed them.

"Wow. Either Stoppable had a tantrum or one of the Chemilumia crewmates threw an epic rave."

Monkey Fist took a deep breath and got out of the elevator. As it went down, he saw a silhouette sitting on the floor, watching the room's large circular window and the travel ring moving around them. Distant stars could be seen through it. Monkey Fist walked closer and recognized the silhouette as Ron Stoppable. Memories of the past flashed in the lord's mind: of the pale, weak blonde teenager, a monkey phobic and seemingly helpless boy who ended up being Monkey Fist's worst foe before Kim Possible. A weakling who got MMP who gained MMP and destroyed the Jade Idols, who took the Lotus Blade from him, whose mere existence embarrassed Monkey Fist and his family, and whose infant sister at the time caused Monkey Fist and the Simian Witch to spend seven years as a statue.

Now? He was looking at a man catching up to him in years of maturity, who sacrificed his teenage year's childish buffoonery for a cynical, grown-up entrepreneur, and who lost most of his years as a husband and father. Millionaire money made people like the Seniors happy, but Stoppable did not look like a happy rich man.

"Get lost," Ron Stoppable grumbled without even bothering to look at Monkey Fist. "I want to be left alone."

"Don't you think you threw enough of a tantrum already?" Monkey Fist crossed his arms. "We need to talk." His eyes widened and he ducked to dodge Stoppable' blue blast.

"YOU UNDERSTAND ENGLISH! GET LOST AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Stoppable screamed and continued throwing blasts at Monkey Fist until the latter found himself leaning on a wall.

"Stoppable, what is wrong with you?" The monkey man looked horrified. He already knew that his arch-foe had used Jack Hench's Attitudinator to split his good and bad personalities fifty-fifty, but this seemed too much. "You're going to get your daughter back."

"I already lost her because of you!" Stoppable clenched his glowing blue fists. "I bet you just _love _that I lost her for good now, don't you? What better way to get rid of Ronilda after you found out she seduced your son!"

"She never seduced him and Martin loved her," Monkey Fist calmly took defense. "Even though we and the rest of the villains found out who she is, we still care for her."

"Spare me your senseless babbling," Ron Stoppable snorted.

This horrified Monkey Fist: Ron Stoppable sounded just like Monkey Fist had when he and Team Possible were trapped with the Yamanouchi ninjas in Gorilla Fist's lair and Sensei's words of wisdom had irked him. _Oh, spare me your senseless babbling_, Monkey Fist had said.

Is that what was happening? Was Ron Stoppable turning just like Monkey Fist? Outside of his family, Gil and Gilliard, and their few friends, Monkey Fist back then cared less about other's feelings. But still, seven years without Martin didn't affect Monkey Fist and his wife the same way fourteen years without Ronilda literally damaged Ron Stoppable's old ideologies. He remembered a conversation back at the GJ base.

_That's rather pessimistic, coming from you of all people_, the Simian Witch had frowned. _What happened to the cowardly boy you once were?_

_How about 'growing a spine'? _Stoppable had said coldly.

"Stoppable, I know you're angry. We both lost our children for a certain amount of time that we feel can never be redeemed," Monkey Fist choked, "but there's still some hope in fixing our mistakes by dedicating the rest of our lives for them once this is all over, you can still be to Ronilda the father you always wanted to be."

"Ha!" Stoppable spat. "If _I _was the one doing that kind of speech back in the old days, you would have laughed to my face and told me that I know nothing about parenthood! But then again, you'd be right. You deprived me fourteen years of that."

"Don't start blaming me..."

"Funny. Back then, you had no problem blaming me back then. 'Oh, it's Stoppable's fault, he stole my Mystical Monkey Power and broke my Jade Idols!'" Stoppable mimicked Monkey Fist's accent. "'Oh, it's Stoppable's fault if the prophecy of the Mystical Monkey Monk didn't come true! Oh, it's Stoppable's fault if I don't have the Lotus Blade! Oh, it's Stoppable's fault if this or that happened! Oh, it's Stoppable's fault if my schemes with my wife have failed! Oh, it's Stoppable's fault if DNAmy found me! Oh, it's Stoppable's fault for training his baby sister in defeating the Yono and turning me and my wife to stone!'" He pointed an accusing finger at Monkey Fist. "Your petrification was due to your choice to follow the path of the Yono and it was your fault if your return drove Kim to paranoia, because let's be frank, you wouldn't have hesitated to kill Ronilda if you had the chance! Then again, maybe you should have just brought your son along, and the three of you would have been petrified like the happy family you are and I'd have Ronilda and Kim with me as the normal family we hoped to be!"

A pain backstabbed Monkey Fist on the chest. "Well... Congratulations for growing up. That's the lowest you've gone." He bit his lips to the point of bleeding.

"Well if you think you can go lower than me, than see yourself out!" Ron Stoppable pointed at the elevator.

"Good! Last thing I need is to see what kind of monster I made!" Monkey Fist stormed his way to the elevator.

"See, you finally take some responsibility!"

"Only because I never meant for you to turn out this way!"

The elevator door closed behind Monkey Fist, and as he went down, he could see more blue lights glowing and probably some things shaking. He couldn't believe it, but now he was shedding tears. He reached the first floor; Diamona was waiting by the elevator.

"What happened?" She asked him as he stepped out and sunk himself to sit on the floor.

"I don't know what I did, but I turned my arch-foe into what I am," he sniffed.

Diamona sat down next to him. "Do you need a hug? I heard it's the human method of comfort."

"Please."


	3. Bonding

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 3: Bonding

Martin wasn't sure how long he had slept when his eyes finally opened. For a bunk bed made by controlling, military alien, the bed was just as comfortable as the one he had back home and he slept without any dream or nightmare to bother him.

His eyes opened due to the light coming from outside the window. Ruba had pulled up the screen to have a better view of outer space, thus explaining why she was sitting on the floor and had her eyes glued to the window.

"Uh... what time is it?" Martin rubbed his eyes.

"The sixth hour in the morning." Ruba said, which Martin had to guess she meant 6am. "I'm sorry if the light from the travel ring woke you up, but I'm used to watching sunrises at this time."

"How can you see sunrises in outer space and with the speed we're going?" Martin climbed down from his bed and joined Ruba at the window. For a moment, he wanted to ask her if she was mocking him, but after a few minutes of watching, he began to see things he hadn't noticed since the beginning of the trio and while they first entered the travel ring. He could see planets distantly floating on the other side of the travel ring like small marbles in fast movement. Each of them had a half much brighter than the other, making them shine the way city lights do whenever you drive in a very fast car.

"Wow," he gasped. "Which planets are they?"

"Probably those from the 4th or 5th system. We should be arriving at System Zero after lunch."

"So many stars... I don't even know if they're the same as those we have on Earth."

"The one you call the North Star is actually the sun of Oasia," Ruba commented. "It gives it a very white light, and at sunrise, it looks like a crossover of white, sea blue, and green. Not as impressive as the ones on Earth and the Felindrax planet, but still pretty."

Martin nodded, and as he did that, he noticed something. With the purple sleeping shirt she was wearing, it exposed the upper part of her chest, particularly a purple star marking the skin just above her heart. Martin especially noticed how Ruba's purple veins pouring down from her eyes and down her neck were meeting up at the star. Its inside looked like a spiderweb of purple veins.

"Ruby... I mean, Ruba. What is that?" He pointed at the purple star.

She looked down at what he was pointing. "That? It's just my birthmark. All girls in the Felindrax planet have it."

"Actually born or bionic?" Martin questioned.

"Very funny. You actually want to hear the whole story?"

Martin sat down in a comfortable pose and gave her all his attention. Ruba rolled her eyes before having them focus on the stars.

"It's the gods who created the System Zero and gladly destroyed it when they had their conflict over the mortals' independence. They kept doing that every cycle, nuking planets and allowing the survivors to rebuild their societies and for the debris to form themselves into new planets bearing new sentience. When the gods split their essences until the time might come, some chose to leave traces. Traces that could be used for finding new hosts. When Violet lost the first time and some of Felindrax planet's debris drifted away, she left traces of her physical form to join them while she got sealed away in her temple."

"**I said to my Felindrax: '**_**My traces will find their way to girls who will be born with my birthmark. When their time is ready, my birthmark will lead you to them so they can help you save your kind. Train them, raise them, love them, and choose wisely when you present me with a potential host.'"**_ Violet briefly spoke.

"And that's how the Felindrax do it. At every cycle, there are girls from different planets born with Violet's birthmark. It changes depending on how they grow up." Ruba poked at her birthmark, causing it to do glitch glowing. "Mine was blurry when I was born, but at my current point, it's more geometrical."

"It certainly appears so," Martin nodded, "but I'm still not sure why you're the only human to have it."

"**Yes, what were the odds? The night you killed that man to save your parents from the Yono, the same night the ninja came to warn Ronilda Stoppable's parents,**" Violet said coldly, "**what would be the odds that when these events occurred on the same night, Ruby was discovered?**"

A chill went down Martin's spine.

"I already told you I was six when I was taken, but you don't know the rest. That night, I had snuck out of my bedroom and to my backyard. I wanted to use the telescope my human uncle had given me. And that's when I felt the burning pain coming from my chest."

"**I sensed it! A human child with my birthmark! I needed and wanted that child for my people! **_**'Break the engines if you must, but bring the child to our planet!**_**' The Felindrax are so loyal, they effectively sped up their time to get to Earth on that night.**"

"I was so in pain, I wanted to scream for my human mother, but somebody clothed my mouth and I fainted," Ruba continued. "When I woke up, I found myself in a room just like this one, only with one bed and a force field keeping me in. The hours I spent screaming to go home and punching on the barrier, hopelessly trying to find a way out."

"_**'A human with Violet's birthmark? How can this be?' 'The only planet in the 13th system to bear sentience, and after millions of years, these primitives finally have someone we want?' 'Do you think it's a sign?' 'She doesn't look exceptional.' 'She must be, she has the birthmark.'**_"

The story changing narrator between Ruba and Violet, blinking eyes from normal to violet colors, reminded Martin of a glitching computer. "So yeah, that's pretty much it," Ruba said.

"That... Well it helps, I now understand how you came to be introduced to them, but still, you're the only human? Weren't there others? I mean, if the Felindrax are desperate for alien women, surely Violet planned to prepare a lot for them."

"It's the way it is. While her essence was trapped in her temple once a new cycle started, her physical debris spread across the universe, and it's so big it takes time. For the planets that kept experiencing those destructions, they get multiplied doses of the debris, thus multitude of Violet's traces. And then there's the catch of once she chooses a host and the latter fails to perform her job, Violet never chooses another host from that host's planet."

"So if Violet had a host in the past, like say a fully-cured Felindrax..."

"She did." Ruba nodded.

"She can never have another Felindrax host again."

"You got it."

"That might explain why she preferred you as a candidate. If you were the only human among say 99 girls from planets that had already been taken, you pretty much had the position guaranteed."

"I don't know." Ruba stared at her clawed fingers and agitated them. "I already told you I was the most primitive one among my more evolved classmates. Why should I have believed back then that a goddess would look at me with even a pinch of consideration?"

"Well clearly you made the effort. I mean you're here, you argue with your goddess like a married couple, and you picked on Iron as if he was the old crone he reincarnated himself in."

Ruba blinked. "That's probably the second time you told me something weirdly nice."

"Really? What was the first?"

"Back when you interrogated me. You said 'For an alien, you have some nerve.' And I thanked you."

"Yes, but that was before I found out you were an alien!" Martin raised a hand in defense.

"Born human, raised alien." Ruba pointed out.

_Later_

Breakfast was yet again a Coraplastia menu: green wheat oatmeal, hot herbal tea, Coraplastia fruit salad, and for addition, Felindrax violberry cake. As Ruba felt better than she did yesterday, she decided on joining the others at the cafeteria. The humans at the table either kept to themselves or dared to eye on Ruba as any nearby Felindrax crewmate immediately jumped to please her. Giving her the biggest chair, offering to pour her tea, serve her the finest, larger portions of breakfast, or asking if she needed fanning.

"Alright Felindrax, that's enough! Ruba needs some space! Shoo!" Flora held out two blue flowers, their vines wrapped around her arms. The crewmates looked scared enough of the flowers, they left them alone.

"Thanks, Flora. I needed it." Ruba sat down on the nearest chair, indifferent of its appearance, while Flora lifted the lid sealing the heat of the green wheat oatmeal pot. Ruba sniffed with delight. "Green wheat oatmeal from the Coraplastia Ceresian Wheat? Yum!"

"I convinced the spaceship's cooks to give a little spice for our breakfast on the house." Flora winked. "Nothing speaks to them better than extra ten viols."

"Genius." Ruba shared a fist-bump with Flora and the two began serving themselves. Flora also took the opportunity of grabbing an unused herbal tea pitcher from the nearest table and put the blue flowers in them.

"What exactly are these?" Drakken pointed at the flowers.

"Morpheus Flowers. They spit sleeping gas. Very practical in case you want to avoid fighting." Flora smirked.

"Pretty ironic considering you had no problem trying to kill me with vines," Gilliard grumbled and impaled his fruit salad with his fork.

"That was different," Flora retorted matter-of-factly. "I only resort to violence when I'm back on the clock. Since I'm off the clock..." She pulled one of the Morpheus Flowers out of the herbal tea pitcher and aimed it at Gilliard. Blue pollen-based gas blasted straight to his face, leaving him to land his snoring face.

"Flora," Ruba chided.

"He's fine, he's just going to sleep for an hour or two." Flora put the Morpheus Flower back in place.

Out of curiosity, Buffy tried poking Gilliard on the head. A louder snore came from him. "Ye really knocked him out."

"Should I materialize a pillow for him?" Ruba offered.

"No, he's good." Martin said dismissively as he ate his oatmeal. Just then, his parents came in. The Simian Witch kept a good hold on Monkey Fist, whose eyes were bloodshot red.

"What happened to ye?" Killigan exclaimed. "You look like you whacked yourself on the face by golf clubs!"

"Trying to reason with Stoppable didn't work?" Martin gave up his seat to his father. The monkey man was still horribly shaken, so his wife explained to everyone what happened last night. Stoppable's rage had scared Monkey Fist to the point that he pulled an all-nighter.

"It was a poorly executed shot," Flora pointed out. "If it had been you in his shoes, you'd probably have reacted the same way if he tried talking to you. Stoppable did kill _two _Lorwardians with his portion of Royal's powers just because they planned to turn Kim Possible into a trophy. A person angered by their loved ones in danger is one thing, but an angry parent? I learned that the hard way when he smacked us in Dubai."

"So is he still in the attic?" Martin asked.

"No. Diamona sent him to the kitchen," his mother answered. "Turns out he bakes whenever he faces parental depression, so he's now BFFs with DNAmy."

"And Kim Possible?"

"Too afraid to come out of her room."

"Probably because she was too frustrated to let her ego admit she was wrong." Everyone stared at Ruba as she calmly ate the rest of her breakfast.

"How did Violet enjoy her dinner?" Flora asked.

"What makes you say that?"

"Your screams didn't echo in the halls last night. Unless the Felindrax brought in a sacrificial lamb, Violet actually allowed you to sleep peacefully with that full stomach of hers."

"Ha! A sacrificial lamb in a spaceship run by a vegetarian!"

"Yeah, you're right. Even in my head, it doesn't sound right."

"Time out!" Monkey Fist did a time-out sign with his hand and gave the calm Ruba a murderous glare. "You feasted on Stoppable's frustration?"

"I didn't, Violet did. I didn't pay much attention to it until my first strike, but being the host of the goddess of frustration... Let's just say I'm like her tour guide in a massive buffet of international frustration. She feeds on it, digests it, grows stronger, and flushes it down the toilet when she's done, Ironically, it's when she feasts on a lot of frustration that I actually get some sleep. Mixing others' frustrations with mine actually obscures my mind and relax me." Ruba took a sip of tea. "The frustration belching isn't great, though."

"The frustration belching." Martin then remembered how Ruba had demonstrated her capacity of zombifying a crowd by breathing a purple breath out of her. "Oh, I get it now! You didn't zombify the GJ agents or those people in Dubai! You just infected them with the... burps of Violet's frustration meals, and unless you ordered them to, they lost the infection once they calmed down?"

"Yep."

"Gross, but effective, I'll admit it."

"_Your goddess feasted Stoppable's frustration_?" Monkey Fist exclaimed once again.

"And you actually care?" Ruba asked flatly. "Don't tell me. 21 years without him to bother you with his clownish antics and now that he's scary beyond all reason, you _miss him_?"

"How did you get 21 years?" Flora asked.

"Seven years as the Yono and then the previous fourteen years."

"Wow. That _is _a long time." Flora stared at Monkey Fist. "No wonder you're both senile without each other."

"I DID NOT MISS HIM!" Monkey Fist snapped.

"You had a hate shrine just for him ever since you two know each other," the Simian Witch had to agree with Flora.

"Seriously?" Dr. Drakken looked at Monkey Fist in disbelief.

"That's it. I'm done." Ruba got up to leave the table. Nearby agents immediately cleared up her dishes while Flora ran to catch up after her. With bad timing, Diamona came in carrying a chocolate cake.

"Where are Ruba and Flora?" Diamona asked.

"They just left. You missed Flora knocking out Gilliard with Morpheus Flowers and Ruba embarrassing my father on the Stoppable topic," Martin wiped his hands with his napkin.

"Son of the year," Monkey Fist grumbled.

"Ouch, rough time. Well, I guess I'll just eat by myself the Seven Layers of Heaven chocolate cake he baked and DNAmy's ginger snaps." Diamona threw a cookie in her mouth and chewed it. "Yum!"

"How are Stoppable and DNAmy coming through?" The Simian Witch asked.

"Besides their new missing-daughters share circle? Clearly bonding over baking Earth pastries. The pre-teens on board are piling in masses, we might as well consider Earth pastries as a resource for the universal market. So yeah, they're calming down."

"Universal market?"

"Aliens share resources. Obviously." Diamona said matter-of-factly. "At the top or bottom of the food chain that unites all planets in every system, the people trade their resources in exchange for others. Money is a mere triviality. A planet's residents have all the same salary amount, but try converting it with other planets' currencies and then you see who's better than who."

"And the main resource for the Felindrax is supplying soldiers, mercenaries, and other military forces." Will Du looked at Diamona with a scowl.

"That and moonstones. LOL, Violet's embarrassed whenever we bring it up in front of Ruba's face, but Violet's original moon for the Felindrax accidentally exploded and its debris created craters on the planet. Cue eras' worth of moonstone mines for architectural foundations, textiles, local technology, and spaceship material."

Martin pondered a thought in his mind. He excused himself from the table, having the others believe that he needed to put away his dirty dishes and go meditate in his dorm. Once he did the first half of his excuse, he made his way through the ship until he found the spaceship's infirmary. Dousus was there, finishing his tending to a pre-teen who had twisted his ankle while training. Martin was briefly marveled as Dousus managed to fix the ankle in a matter of minutes. The pre-teen took precautions and patiently walked his way back rather than rushing.

"Hello, Martin Fiske," Dousus smiled at him. "How are you surviving being dormmates with Ruba Kala?"

"Oddly well, since I'm still alive."

Dousus chuckled at Martin's dry joke and wiped his wands with a bacteria-killing cloth. "So, what can I help you with?"

"Well, I just learned you used moonstones for your technology and, well, knowing about your bionic warriors..."

Dousus smile turned into a mild, bitter pout. "Are you wondering if we're poisoning our own soldiers with our moonstone-based technology?"

"M...maybe. I mean, I'm already witnessing Ruba as some kind of victim of psychological abuse and I'm wondering if the moonstones in her bionics might be affecting her the same way mercury poisoning..."

"That's enough!" Dousus suddenly became impatient.

"I'm sorry!" Martin held his hands in defense. "I didn't mean to offend you..."

"I know. Forgive me." Dousus grabbed some kind of purple spray out of his pocket and skirted some of its liquid on his face, soothing and allowing him to sigh calmly. "We're aware of those... imaginative stories you humans come up with about aliens solely seeking to invade your planet."

"Indeed."

"I must say, I don't even know how you humans managed to come up with those stories about Violet seeking to corrupt mortals. I mean, seriously, 'Violet Death'? I've known a bunch of publicists who've come up with weird nicknames for Ruba, but this is just mocking our deity."

"We never..." Martin cut himself when he remembered what Melgo Lipsky had told them about meeting the Yamanouchi ninja who posed as a midwife to help Kim Possible give birth to Ronilda. "Never mind."

"Why do you wonder these things now?" Dousus put away his supplies into cabinets and pressed his thumb on a screen to activate the DNA locks.

"I don't know... I guess I'm just startled by how Ruba deems herself less worthy than her comrades, how when she depressed, she reminded me of Ronilda, how I don't understand why I don't sense Crimson in me, and... I have no idea what to make of my father and Ron Stoppable."

"I see." Dousus pulled a chair to sit on. "For starters, I can assure you that the Felindrax haven't dared to psychologically abuse her..."

"But back when we held her prisoner, she claimed Violet's energy was killing her and Violet had the Felindrax lie to the girls they kidnapped!"

"She thought that giving lies you'd believe easily would help her get away. I mean, would you have believed you if she told you 'I'm a space hero hosting a goddess in me and I just need to kill your girlfriend to save the universe, so no harm done?'"

Dousus' point made Martin give a recognition scowl. "And pulling out her baby teeth to grow the adult ones and inject her bones with moonstone?"

"We just did it with her. The children of her age already had their adult teeth, so when we first brought her in, we were confused as to why her teeth were still in delay, crooked, and sensitive. And don't get me started about the additional molars threatening to come out, Ruba needed three days of ice treatment."

Martin touched his cheek, thinking about the time when his parents dragged him to a dentist to remove his wisdom teeth.

"For seconds, your sightings of how Ruba might reflect Ronilda, do not forget they are Violet and Royal's hosts. Destiny wanted them to be the light to the other's shadow, the tough fairness versus the blind benevolence, and perhaps because they were meant to be arch-enemies, you were not fit to be Ronilda's despite your families' histories."

"Violet mentioned that Ruba was taken on the same night I killed the Yamanouchi leader to free my parents from the Yono. Which occurred on the same night that the Stoppables were warned... You don't think I'm to blame, do you? Or do you think Crimson expected that my act would give an awakening for Royal and the alert for Violet?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't really rush in waking up your dormant goddess. Even as the consort of the gods' king, Crimson is volatile, infidel, and cruel. Iron may be a master manipulator and the worst of the deities, but Crimson is the most emotionally dangerous. She preys on any form of love, familial, platonic, romantic, or even love in its worst forms. I already find it a miracle that she hasn't made you do your worst while you had your romantic moments with Ronilda."

Martin smiled happily. "Thank goodness! I was worried our relationship was primarily due to the whole Crimson being married to Royal!"

"Hold on, I promise nothing!" Dousus waved his hands. "I can't guarantee that you didn't get at least 10% from Crimson's influence. Trust me, if she were awake in you, you'd be doing worse things. So, maybe don't really try to wake her up."

Martin shrugged. He still felt like it was good news, knowing that his relationship with Ronilda was most likely not the fruit of some god's concoction.

"And lastly, concerning your father's... issue with Ron Stoppable. I'm not much of the expert on the matter, but from the data Ruba collected from Earth, I think it's possible that because they gained traces of Royal's essence from the Jade Idols, Monkey Fist and Ron Stoppable gained a... sort of psychic link. They might have not noticed it, but I think that link between them is what's causing their particular reactions whenever they are near one another that causes them to trade emotions depending on the situations."

"You mean like how my father's shocked of Stoppable's sudden change into a cynical, rage-filled beast?"

"Yes. Stoppable's enraged, it scares Monkey Fist. Back in the old days, when Monkey Fist was the enraged one, it was Stoppable who became the scared one. When Monkey Fist was there, it gave the chance for Stoppable to step out of his cowardly light and be brave, and when Stoppable was there, it put Monkey Fist in a larger killing lust. Years without Monkey Fist has left Stoppable to obsess over keeping his family in one, and years without Ron Stoppable has left Monkey Fist partially incomplete without someone to challenge him."

Martin stared at him. "I understand what you're saying, but this idea is messed up."

"Big time," Dousus agreed.

_Minutes later_

Martin and Dousus made their way to the training room in the hopes of catching some sights of Ruba helping train the pre-teens. The monkey boy had to admit, he felt comfortable watching the Felindrax train. It distracted him from his thoughts by reminding him of his own young times training in Tai Shing Pek Kwar. Then again, he preferred it when he saw the pre-teen aliens practicing fighting with their bare hands than with weapons.  
"Flora mentioned yesterday on the methods you applied to train young soldiers," Martin commented. "What kind of mission are these children being put on?"

"Currently? Patrolling and guarding. They're still beginners. We only send them on dangerous missions depending on their level of efficiency," Dousus nodded. "They get to form their own squads to help them develop sense of leadership, teamwork, and loyalty."

"And finesse in their work?"

"Clearly the Felindrax military is more refined than the barbarian methods of those Lorwardian brutes. Hunting and conquering planets for sport! Violet would have our hides if we dared to show her ingratitude for the homeland she has given us by taking those of others!"

Martin frowned. Dousus was clearly nice but he was like the other Felindrax, joining in on calling out humans and Lorwardians as less evolved than them. He didn't seem to do it out of malice but more in a matter-of-fact fashion. At this rate, Martin wouldn't be surprised if Ruba treated her own kind like garbage because the Felindrax raised her to think that as part of her kidnappers' society, she had to behave as such.

"Pardon me, doctor," one of the crewmates approached them, "but Ruba Kala was wondering if the human accompanying you would be interested in helping the tutoring of the young ones. She claims that he might give some outer perspective on human-style combat."

"Let me guess," Dousus said deadpan, "one of the children asked 'What is there to be afraid of? Humans are helpless?'"

"Indeed." The crewmate snorted. "You think the kids would know better than to ask such things when they have a walking example."

"I'll gladly help Ruba teach them some manners." Martin cracked his knuckles. "I need some exercise." 

_Minutes later_

Martin stood on the ring, his arms crossed as Ruba addressed the pre-teen who had questioned.

"Well go on, Shella," Ruba gestured to Martin. "After all, he's a helpless human. What do you have to be afraid about?"

The pre-teen climbed on top of the ring. She was roughly 4.7 feet tall for a twelve-year-old, her ocean blue skin much more different than Drakken's pale blue skin, her lapis hair flowing down to her shoulders like a waterfall, and her tail moving behind her. Martin noted how Shella's tail fin reminded him of manta rays. Shella looked uncertain at first, but then she went forth to swing her tail at him. Martin easily jumped out of the way, and when the timing was right, his right foot grabbed Shella's tail and swung her to the other side of the ring.

"Tail spinning, I'm so scared," he muttered drily.

"Yes, Shella, he's so scared," Ruba agreed. "This ain't primary education anymore, start acting like a Felindrax warrior from Oasia!"

Shella got back to her feet and held her hands out. From nearby pots, water rose and trailed over her palms to form balls that she shot at him. Martin merely held his hands out and flicked his fingers to splash the water balls into mere puddles. He used his Mystical Monkey Power to direct the water towards Shella and freeze beneath her feet. Shella dug her tailfin into the ice and use it as a steering mechanism to help her skate towards Martin. Knowing how in such a position, her tail balancing her could weaken her, Martin aimed to strike the leg, but Shella noticed his plan and did her best to dodge him.

"Fine awareness, Shella," Ruba shrugged.

Shella gave out a smug smile, but as she was busy keeping Martin away from her tail, she did not see the kick he threw at her stomach, sending Shella flying. Martin used MMP to have the entire ice shackle Shella. While she struggled through her bonds, Ruba jumped on the ring and leaned over the child.

"So what have we learned?" She asked.

"To watch my tongue and not underestimate humans," Shella said meekly.

"Very good." Ruba waved her hand to make the ice felt, freeing the child. "Just for learning that lesson, you're dismissed from class and will be put on cleaning duty in the engine room."

Shella nodded and made her way out. Her classmates snickered.

"The same punishment will go to all of you if you continue such immature activities." Ruba scowled at the pre-teens, forcing them into silence and looking guilty while she lectured them. "Need I remind you this is no longer primary education? Your behavior and performance are constantly observed by our society to sort you for your final tests! So unless you plan to be a bunch of pathetic soldiers wasting their lives as trench guards, do yourself a favor by learning today's lesson: never underestimate anyone, especially those from weaker species, and watch how you speak to your elders!"

"Forgive us, godly host," the pre-teens spoke in unison.

"Forgiven." Ruba took a deep, calm breath. "Proceed to your five-minute break. We shall resume once you're hydrated."

The youngsters nodded and made their way to a table where herbal tea canteens were distributed.

"Points for your disciplinary methods." Martin clapped his hands.

"Back at you for not playing soft on the kids." Ruba handed him a canteen. The moment his fingers caught the canteen, she slipped hers away in a hurried fashion as if to avoid creating contact. He dismissed the gesture and proceeded to drinking the herbal tea, and surprisingly alien herbal tea is much stronger than Earl Grey and peppermint combined.

"You often teach children or do teachers just have you come over because a godly host keeps the students in line?"

"Both." Ruba finished her canteen's content without leaving behind one drop. "I did spend some of my free time volunteering in my mom's primary education class, and normally once every sixteen-year-old passes their final test, their observations now count for the others. To be clearer, since Flora, Diamona, and I passed our test, we get to observe and add our thoughts on the kids' progress before determining their final tests, and since I happen to be a godly host..."  
"**Please don't start telling him the cliché speech of 'their fates rest in my hand'**," Violet groaned.

"Would it kill you to stop interrupting me?"

"**I beg your pardon, but since it's a society where higher status speaks first. I'm the goddess, and you're the host. I speak first.**"

"Yes, but last time I checked, that rule goes to the physical beings, and since you're just a string of essence slithering in my organs, your status is as good as a parasite. So shut up!"

And Violet silenced herself.

_Pure contrast_, Martin noted. _Ronilda couldn't control having Royal in her and between Ruba and Violet, it's almost like a couple fighting over a remote._

The same shaking he had experienced yesterday in the dorm happened in the training room. The Felindrax were put in the alert.

"We just crossed the second gal-jumper," Ruba guessed. "We're finally in System Zero."


	4. The Felindrax Planet

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 4: The Felindrax Planet

The Felindrax acted like it was déjà vu, but the humans were even more astonished than they were back in the travel ring.

System Zero was an emptiness full of stars gleaming like Christmas lights. Large planets passed them and each of their suns could be seen flashing their sunrays. At one point, around the time the humans decided they might as well skip lunch to continue watching the rest of the spaceship's travel, they passed Oasia. Many of the pre-teens of Oasia descent such as Shella rushed to the control room to see their native planet passing by in all its multiple blue hued glory and its white sun. When Martin brought up that Ruba mentioned Polaris being Oasia's sun, Drakken deduced that System Zero must be what its native aliens call the Bode's Galaxy.

Some time later, Kim Possible had finally shown herself when they passed Coraplastia, Flora's native planet. From outer space, Coraplastia looked like a marble of iridescent green and pink brightened by its yellow sun. Flora looked longing at her planet before it disappeared.

"Hey, Kim," Shego greeted her. "Feeling better?"

"You prefer my older version or how I really feel?" Kim groaned.

"Any." She tilted her head towards the Fiske. "Ron scared Monkey Fist big time."

"I can imagine. Ron has barely spoken to me lately."

"Go figure. I mean, what were you thinking?"

Kim had been getting the worst amount lately. Her husband and mother were angry with her, her old villainous rogue gallery was disappointed, the human population was enraged, and the Felindrax did not bother to hold back their repulsion. The aliens were the most emotional when it came to the topic of 'Kim Possible Isolated Her Own Daughter From The Real World And Abandoned The Child With The Grandmother'. The moment she saw Kim approaching, Diamona got up and walked away to the other side of the control room.

"Is she alright?" Buffy noticed Diamona's reaction.

"Diamona's... rather sensitive on topics of parental abandonment," Flora admitted in a hesitant tone. "Even after all these years, she hasn't gotten over the fact that her biological Batrishania parents sold her away for being the family runt."

"Ay, is poverty that bad in her planet?"

"No, Batrishania people have the same salary and their resource is highly valued and paid by other planets, but the planet itself is another matter. Dark clouds, steep hills that hang over an abyss, and sterile land. The people live in cave-dug buildings and spend their money for necessities other aliens can provide but not their home."

"You can't be serious! Surely they had some food before they started merchandising!"

"They could hunt the local fauna, but even these beasts are hostiles. They're even smart: just before the first foreign exchanges started with Batrishania, the animals picked up that the Batrishania people would perish without their meat, so they fled to the abyss to survive. So yeah, Batrishania is constantly spending for things like food, textiles, weapons, and assistance for improving their homes. And trust me, if there are some like Diamona who aren't sold off for being runts, some are just willing to be sold if it means not starving in Batrishania. You'd be surprised by the massive amount of Batrishania immigrants on higher planets."

After a turn at some floating asteroids, they saw more spaceships passing in the area, probably for those carrying trades solely between planets in the System Zero. When more passed by, the humans were noted that there weren't just military or trading spaceships, but also cruise spaceships, individual space vehicles, and the occasional random space extreme sports hovering vehicles used for stunts like riding asteroids or chasing comets.

"I don't suppose there are the occasional asteroid or meteorite collisions that lead to the spaceships' malfunctioning?" Gilliard asked. "Unless aliens never had Titanic incidents."

"That highly primitive ship that sank in that infantile chunk of ice?" Ruba snorted. "Who's dumb enough to believe that such a thing would be unsinkable and wouldn't cause the deaths of thousands?"

Monkey Fist did throw a scowl at her and Martin was quick to notice it.

"I'm aware that you grew up in a highly evolved society and you think we're beneath you, but don't try to bring up the Titanic that way in front of my father. You'd be surprised that some ancient monkey artifacts were being transported on the ship and, well, you get the picture."

"Isn't that the purpose though?" Ruba just frowned. "I mean, if the humans who built that ship thought it was unsinkable, they should have tested it to ensure nothing could sink it before such events happen. You think that once we build a spaceship, we don't do a series of tests to make sure it can withstand avoiding or surviving asteroid impacts, survive the travel ring voyages, place the right coordinates, quarantine inner menaces, and uphold a certain weight of passengers? I mean, we've had some prototypes fail, but at least only ten people were on the ships when they got damaged or destroyed in outer space."

"Helps avoid massive casualties." Diamona nodded. "After all, besides Violet's divine peers, it seems like a humans hold the record for massive casualties that they unleash upon themselves."

Just before any of the humans could retort, they finally approached the Felindrax planet.

It was a planet perhaps similar to Earth: it had a sun and a moon and was a rocky planet with an atmosphere. But the similarities when it became visible that the planet's sun was blue, the moon lacking craters as if it were carved to be a perfect, smooth ball, the planet was four times the Earth's size and its visible atmosphere was purple.

The crewmates slowed down the engines as they started making their way down. As they did so, they inspected the holographic maps, indicating the course to follow in order to properly land at the spaceship station.

The spaceship entered the atmosphere, where purple clouds floated their merry way around. Dousus began to distribute some inhalers bearing VIDA gas (Vitally Important Dioxide Aspiration) to the humans, explaining to them that it was necessary for them to inhale some to ensure they could properly breathe on a permanent basis once on the planet.

Martin inhaled his VIDA gas and grimaced. "Revolting! Beetles and olives!"

"VIDA gas has the effect of your least favorite scent to properly clog your nostrils to protect your lung from potential atmospheric poisoning," Ruba explained. "I had my first done when I was six, so now I can breathe properly on this planet. For me it smelled of sardines and garlic bread."

Martin stared at her. "Garlic bread?"

"My biological father tried to bake garlic bread when I was four. He was so bad for a first-timer, he burned the kitchen and for five days, we could only smell burned garlic bread."

Finally, they crossed the barrier of clouds and saw what laid out on the planet's surface. It started out with a sandy colored ground from which rose a temperate rainforest, complete with a diversity of trees either evolved versions or hybrids of what there was on Earth, and a violet colored lagoon. If purple hued flora grew here and there, the native fauna was moving around.

It was then followed by what looked like a mine site. The flourishing forest turned into a valley of dried out earth covered with craters and digging sites where machines were digging, extracting, and sorting moonstones into crates that were then brought to hovering vehicles.

Afterwards came the Trench, either a fascinating or abominable force of nature so deep, one could have put the Eiffel Tower in it and figure out for centuries when it could reach the bottom. Just above the Trench were a series of bridges leading straight to the final part of the planet, the city of the Felindrax.

"That's a big trench," Gilliard remarked. "Did you guys dig this or was it due to erosion?"

"It started out as an ordinary trench when Violet created our world, but when her original moon fell down, it landed right in the ocean that was once there," Dousus explained. "She deepened the Trench to suck in the water before it could flood our city and changed the Trench to have it circulate around the city. The Trench is in a way our moat and it keeps the wild animals away."

"So the lagoon is the only natural body of water on this planet?"

"Well the original ocean's water is still at the bottom of the Trench, but unless you humans find honor in suicide, it's my responsibility as a doctor to highly discourage you from performing a cannonball."

The spaceship continued its flight above the limits, but its members could still stare at the majestic appearance of the city far much bigger than any they've ever seen, perhaps covering a quarter of the planet. The majority of the futuristic buildings were of purple hues but other colors also stood out and everything seemed to be split in twelve massive neighborhoods (with a thirteenth under construction). Each neighborhood had its own massive female statue reaching the sky. At the heart of the stood a palace, an arena, a building resembling a city hall, and what appeared to be a wall encircling a purple cloud dome.

"Home sweet home," Ruba stared at the city's center.

"**Hey, look, I can see my office from here**!" Violet pointed at the walled cloud.

"_This _is your temple?" Martin was stunned.

Ruba just shrugged.

The spaceship finally landed onto the spaceship station. While the cargo was being unloaded, the humans were escorted outside, where they could hardly tell what to make of the air. Ruba looked around and began barking in frustration at the nearest guards.

"Where's Loyus?"

"At the Trialing Trinity, your grandness," a guard spoke.

"And why is he not here? He's the High Priest of Violet! That paranoid is usually always here whenever I arrive in order to assault me with the needed schedule!"

"It was a last minute expectation. He and Monarch Ritus had to prepare the judge panel at the Trialing Trinity for the upcoming trial that you requested."

"SO WHY DIDN'T HE SEND ME A MESSAGE YESTERDAY?" Ruba nearly shrieked, scaring the guards.

"There was a small incident with the dragon herd enclosure... Please don't lash at us, Great Violet One!" The guards begged and groveled before Ruba.

"For the love of Violet, I leave this planet to do my job and everytime I come back, the incompetents I task make things a mess!" Ruba nearly clawed her cheeks. "Summon a personal hover train to take us straight to the Trialing Trinity! Contact Loyus to let him know I'll slap him if I catch him boozing on the job! Reprimand whoever was responsible for protecting my sacred dragons during an absence! And somebody get me Ritus on the line! I happen to be the godly host here!"

In a matter of seconds, a majority of Felindrax guards sweated their hides to please Ruba's orders.

"Is she always like this?" Will Du asked.

"Just be glad this isn't one of her bad days," Diamona shook her head.

"At this level, I never expected her to have a high priest," Martin remarked. "Ruba usually seems rather independent."

"You'll have to tell her that compliment, but Loyus is a different manner. He's... kind of what you humans have in pastors for churches and rabbis for synagogues. Loyus is the chief of the Felindrax priests leading the religion dedicated to Violet. A position passed down from father to son, he's responsible for leading prayers before the temple, acting as Violet's itinerary during council and court meetings, and doing the speeches whenever a winner is presented as a potential host for Violet."

"His only problem is that years of doing his job and never getting a godly host has left him jaded and drunk," Flora grimaced. "Karma kicked him when Violet chose Ruba and now he's stressed out with the work he has to deal with."

"Advising Ruba, organizing her schedule, acting as her secondary voice, filling in for her during her absences, and whatever." Diamona listed.

"So he's more like her secretary," Martin said.

"More like the assistant who really needs to catch up on the paperwork."

They were lead to the other side of the station where hover rails, hovering vehicles resembling futuristic glass tramways, were waiting to depart. Some were being loaded with merchandises brought from other planets, others were being boarded by alien tourists eyeing the humans in surprise, and one where the group boarded. The seats were organized in a rectangular format as if it were purposely made so that any passenger could see the others from any angle. Well, maybe any passenger except Camillo Leon. Ever since he got a tablet from the Felindrax, he'd been surfing the Universal Web (the aliens' more evolved version of the Internet) and his eyes now had the expression of a poet with mixed feelings of inspiration and despair.

"Neon collared crop tops..." He almost drooled on his pants, Melgo quickly placed a napkin on his laps. "A designer's dream... AND IT'S FORTY HUNDRED SEASONS AHEAD OF US!" He bursted into tears.

"That late?" Ruba, Flora, and Diamona exclaimed in horror far worse than Camillo's.

"You must be joking," Kim Possible gave them a dry look.

"Uh, no," Diamona scowled.

"That would be abominable," Flora agreed.

"What do you think we are, dystopian savages?" Ruba gasped in offense. "We're still girls. We go shopping at any universal mall anytime we have a day off. Naturally, we like to keep up with universal trends." She turned to Camillo. "Neon and bioluminescent clothing have been a trend since the 4th cycle brought the creation of the planet Chemilumia."

"Daily or for special occasions only?" Camillo's eyes beamed like a puppy eager for a treat.

"Daily for Chemilumia people, but on the other planets, it depends on the statement your making. I personally wear neon lilac clothing whenever I go to raves or nightclubs."

"Raves and nightclubs? Who are you and what have you done with Ruba Kala?" Kim Possible asked in a suspicious tone.

"Is there a problem about my social life that you'd like to criticize?" Ruba asked in a deadly calm voice. "Unless you'd like me to turn this ride into a lecture of knowing in place, especially since you're clearly an expert on ruining a kid's life?"

Kim Possible almost had the idea of getting up and punching the girl right here but her husband speaking up put her on hold.

"Oh, will you for once do something sensible in your life and actually do as your told?"

His tone was dry and clearly throwing the blame at his wife, who shrunk in her seat. It was pretty evident that not only had he not forgiven her, but he was now making her the second person to lash out after. Monkey Fist and the Simian Witch couldn't help but feel pity for Kim Possible.

The hover rail left the spaceship and made it's way towards the center. A holographic projection of some fully-cured Felindrax man emerged in the center of the seating area for all the passengers to watch.

"_Welcome foreigners to the Felindrax city, home to the first people of Violet and capital to all other Violet-made planets. Until we approach your final destination, enjoy this tutorial about our home's history._

"_The Felindrax planet was created by Violet the goddess of frustration far many trillion years ago. After the collision of her moon prototype, our main industry has become moonstone mining, a resource we use for our citizens and share with other aliens. We use moonstones for our technology, our clothing, our weapons, our architecture, and our spaceships._

"_At one point during the beginning of System Zero, Violet argued with the other gods that mortals needed to be independent from them. The gods destroyed her corporeal form while her essence was spared but locked in her temple, which is on the other side of the walled dome cloud that you can see from here. The gods split their essences across the universe, but before doing so, Iron the god of age spread the Curse Plague to kill off all the Felindrax women and genetically damage the men. It takes generations of introduction of alien women into our society, arranged marriages, career organization, and reproduction that the descendants of a third-cured Felindrax can finally bear fully-cured sons to bring back fully-cured daughters until Violet's godly host can restore everyone through the death or Royal. Currently as we speak, 78% percent of the Felindrax male population are half-cured and serve as doctors, teachers, warriors, or any career that best suits their skills and genetics. 12% are third-cured Felindrax, who are physically weak to serve in the military, so they generally work as scientists, researchers, primary educators, servants to higher-class Felindrax, and other minor employment. Lastly, 10% are fully-cured Felindrax, and if they aren't soldiers, they take up most of the chief governmental careers such as monarch and priests. 40% percent of the planet's population is composed of alien immigrated from other methods, but the methods to include them into our society differs from the way we bring up our native citizens to fill their roles. After all, we can't all be culturally insensitive!_"

The humans had mixed feelings as they listened to both the holographic tour guide and watched the neighborhoods passing by them.

"_Now you may ask why our buildings are built out of more than one mineral and formatted like abstract jigsaw puzzles. Since cycles end with an explosion of the universe, it tends to damage civilizations. To ensure the improvement of our modern technology and the preservation of our traditions, we build new homes over the ones damaged by the explosions. We are currently going through neighborhoods 10 to 12, which only bear 1 to 3 different minerals as they are the most advanced, safest, and built from perfectly strong moonstone beams. You will see more jigsaw puzzles as we approach neighborhoods 1 to 4, which are the least occupied neighborhoods in our city as we use it to test our technology in preparation for potential apocalypse hazards and to train our recruits. As for neighborhoods 5 to 9, the areas are generally safe and if not fun, the perfect sectors of our city for tourism._

_"The twelve neighborhoods of our city are each built in honor of a host of Violet depending on the order the host came in and depending on the duration of the host's career."_

"Career duration?" Drakken asked the hologram.

"_That's right!_" Now the hologram just sounded like an annoying talk show host. "_The size of a neighborhood depends on the time the host has lived. The neighborhood also reflects aspects of the host's home planet. Allow me to give you an example: the sixth neighborhood was built in honor of Violet's sixth host, Oystra from Oasia_!_ She has lived for three years as Violet's host, a record only defeated by the current host of Violet, Ruba Kala. The sixth neighborhood is thus full of water canals, lily pod homes, aquariums, and other forms of marine-inspired infrastructures. Until a thirteenth neighborhood is built, the sixth neighborhood remains the biggest one in the city!_"

The hologram went on to explain about each of the different neighborhoods and the hosts they were dedicated to. A seat away from her, Martin noticed the dejected expression on Ruba.

"Until you came, Oystra was the only one who managed to live longer than the others," Martin guessed.

Ruba groaned. "An amazing warrior. She was nineteen when she died, but she became legendary for being the first host of Violet to cause Iron problems. Instead of hunting down Royal, Oystra decided to challenge Iron first head on without giving him time to fully reincarnate. For three years, they battled in a two-godly hosts war and destroyed a majority of the 6th system planets. Until Iron finally found Royal and tricked him into killing her, Oystra was known as the Oasia Hurricane."

"Yeah, what girl on this planet wouldn't dream of being Oystra?" Diamona said in a near fangirl tone. "Sure, all Oasia people have aquakinesis, but with Violet, Oystra could create tsunamis and whirlpools that normally take at least thirty Oasia people to perform! And when she fought Iron in his Batrishania host, their powers in destructive battle created the very first black hole in existence!"

Ruba groaned even more.

"Why are you groaning?" Diamona stared at Ruba. "You're even better than Oystra! When you think about it, you were close enough to killing Ronilda when you first met, so compare that to the host of Royal who made introductions with Oystra by stabbing her on the neck from behind!"

Ruba groaned even further and dropped her face in her hands.

"Diamona, exactly how do you manage to stay alive with you annoying people like that?" Martin wondered.

"Because lying is for the unfaithful and since I care very much for people that matter, I show my care through methods of the blunt truth..."

"Oh, thank Violet!" Dousus exclaimed once the hover rail came to a stop. "We're here!"

They stepped out of the hover rail and into what was the center of the Felindrax city. The whole area stood on top of a hill and the ground was covered by moonstone sidewalks, green grass, and a few trees crowned with purple foliage. All the city's canals met at the center to form a liquid roundabout. At the left side stood the royal palace, constructed from moonstone and silver and six times the size of the Fiskes' own castle. Next to the royal palace stood the building resembling a city hall, which Ruba confirmed was the Trialing Trinity where justice was held. On the right stood the Testing Arena, just as big as the palace and far more modern than the human soccer arenas. It was at the Testing Arena that the Felindrax have the sixteen-year-olds pass specific tests to determine their careers.

Finally, at the heart of the area was Violet's temple. It was already known that her temple was bigger than the palace, but from a closer look, it now made the palace, the Testing Arena, and the Trialing Trinity almost as small as ants.

Since the Felindrax walked towards the temple, the humans followed and managed to have a better look at the temple.

"It's probably the second most beautiful work of history I've ever seen!" Monkey Fist was in bliss. "The wall carvings, the levitating shield, and the outer décor! It's amazing!"

"**Yes, my temple is the crowning jewel of the entire city for more than at least 182 billion years**," Violet said proudly. "**Of course, every cycle required renovations for the representations of my hosts, and naturally, Ruba and Oystra take a lot of space.**"

"And this?" Shego pointed at the levitating shield, which was just statues of Violet's hosts spinning around the wall, their faces facing the city.

"Here's a demo. Hey, Oil Stench!" Diamona whistled at Motor Ed and Edina, who were dangerously ogling at the hover rail and perhaps considering tinkering it. "I dare one of you to climb this staircase!" Diamona pointed at the massive staircase of moonstone bricks that only reached half of the wall's height. "You can actually see the hovering monster trucks in the ninth neighborhood from here!"

"Ooh, I got to check it out! Seriously!" Motor Ed ran up the stairs.

"Wait, Pops! It might me..." Edina's warning got cut off by the statues shooting laser beams at Motor Ed until he ran back down the staircase. "Booby trapped."

"Yeah, the Host Gate isn't known for being friendly. In fact, a majority of the winners who don't get chosen by Violet just get shot off the Effortair by the Host Gate." Diamona pointed at the staircase. "It represents all the lucky losers. Each brick it's made off has the name of the girl who passed the test but got dumped. And these." Diamona waved her hand at the infinite amount of carved tiles surrounding the wall like a purple lake mosaic. "All the tiles dedicated to the girls who failed the tests."

"Ya people are sadists," Killigan muttered.

"What?" Dousus shrugged. "We hit a hiatus on the tiles and bricks once a host is chosen."

This bothered the humans a bit, seeing the numerous amount of tiles and bricks forming a grounded staircase of souls who failed to accomplish a great destiny. And the Host Gate hovering above them, symbolizing the oh so fortunate who got their destinies and were now far above those who had challenged or lost to them.

"Alright, that's enough," Ruba said. "We must head to the Trialing Trinity."

Martin once again noticed her pessimistic mood swing. He quickly caught up to her as they headed to the Trialing Trinity. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not alright. I hate the temple." Ruba lowered her head. "I don't like spending an hour in or near it."

"Because it reeks the stench of inaccessible dreams of freedom, heroism, and independence?"

Ruba sighed. "Ever since I was kid, I had to witness all the other sixteen-year-old girls pass the tests only to get rejected, either by the Host Gate shooting at them away from the wall or Violet refusing them access to her temple. When my turn came... I didn't even think I'd make it. I was so sure I'd either fail the tests or be rejected just for what I am."

"Human?"

"Primitive."

"You're really letting it sink too deeply."

"For good reason. I've been a host for four years now and I still can't believe Violet chose me. Or that she agreed with the others."

They reached the front steps of the Trialing Trinity. A Felindrax was pacing nervously in front of the steps, his golden eyes looking in worry at holographic projections coming from a tablet. Unlike Dousus, this one had all the complete features of a fully-cured Felindrax: sandy skin, golden eyes, and black hair resembling the upper part of a lion's mane. While most of the other passing civilians seemed to be wearing skin tight, one or two pieces clothing, he wore a big angel-sleeved purple patterned cloak, black sleeveless tunic, no shoes, and a headpiece of moonstones and silver resembling some sort of lionfish fin.

"LOYUS!" Ruba yelled at him.

Loyus yelped when he saw her come. "Ruba! You're... five minutes early!"

"At least _I'm _on time! Care to explain to me why I haven't been hearing any reports from you on my way back? You're the High Priest of Violet! We had an agreement!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, but with you absent for months, I had to cover all the tasks for you." He showed her the holographic list. "You can't imagine the damage: the tests for the sixteen-year-old boys with promising futures in medicine, education, mining, and therapy, the marriage arrangements for the eighteen-year-olds, the introduction of new girls in the primary education, the bridge accident in neighborhood seven..."

"What happened in neighborhood seven?"

"Your stooges couldn't even handle the pen locking of your sacred dragons, so the beasts went stampeding and their acid destroyed a quarter of the bridge..."

"I thought you asked Coralus to guard the pen locking!"

"With his condition? The boy slept through most of his shifts!"

"No, go figure!" Ruba calmed down. "OK, I'll murder you later. Right now, are things ready at the Trialing Trinity?"

"Yes."

"Good."  
"And we're going to the Trialing Trinity for what purpose?" Kim Possible asked.

Loyus glanced at her solemnly. "To judge you primitive souls."


	5. Trial in the Trialing Trinity

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 5: Trial in the Trialing Trinity

It was neither forced nor friendly, but Felindrax guards escorted the humans inside the Trialing Trinity. Turns out that the building was one entire room, a massive size perfect for a courtroom.

The humans were obliged to sit down in chairs located at the center, but it took a while for the guards to determine on which chairs the humans should sit depending on their statuses. Surrounding the chairs were tables piling upward like a hill, the size getting bigger depending on the status of the judge sitting. Flora and Diamona were sitting between the middle and end while Ruba sat at the highest table. Loyus sat on the third highest while the second one was occupied by a fully-cured Felindrax man, younger than Loyus, dressed in a purple jumpsuit, black cape, and a hundred moonstone jewelry. It had to be Ritus, the planet's monarch.

"So, why is Ruba leading the trial?" Gilliard asked nervously.

"Probably because divine judgment surpasses regal opinion." Martin counted the judges' table. "They take status seriously. So... Ruba's first because she's literally holding a goddess in her. Then, Ritus for the planet sovereign, Loyus for chief of the clergy... Then it looks like it goes through diplomats, military leaders, scientists, researchers, doctors, public spokesperson, and then a variety of soldiers based on ranks. Diamona and Flora must be in the category of highly respected soldiers but it's still not high enough compared to Ruba and the other superiors."

"I don't want to imagine what the court must be like if a judge was a slave," Gilliard commented drily.

A mallet was brought to Ruba, who did not hesitate to slam it onto her table to attract everyone's attention. "Thank you all for gathering at this trial organized at the last minute. As usual, we will take turns speaking based on our statuses. May Violet bless us with her justice."

"May Violet bless us with her justice," the judges repeated after her.

"My fellow Felindrax," Ritus took his turn speaking. "After a cycle's worth of waiting, Violet chose Ruba Kala and at the fourth anniversary, Royal's host was found. Destiny wants it that Ruba Kala slays the host, a human girl named Ronilda Stoppable, whom she blasted into outer space to delay Iron. However, these humans beg to differ. They ask for an alternative, if one does exist, to extract the god from the host, so that the girl may be spared and that Ruba Kala may also fulfill her destiny."

"The question that needs resolving from our court," Loyus spoke then, "is whether or not it's worth our time to accept their begging despite their crimes."

The humans didn't have time to react. They started summoning the Fiskes, who were first in line due to their aristocratic status putting them above the others. In order of status, the Felindrax asked them questions.

"Montgomery Fiske, Silvia Winterfields Fiske, and Martin Fiske. Supervillains. Archaeologist, sorceress, and bearer of the non-functioning essence of Crimson."

"Yes?"

"Do you acknowledge that your family holds partial responsibility for bringing to Royal the host he needed?"

"How exactly is this our fault?" Monkey Fist demanded.

To answer his questions, holographic projections of Earth footage appeared above the court. The videos showed all the known footage of Monty Fiske's research on the Jade Idols, Silvia's family history as Simian Witches, Silvia getting arrested for her attempt at killing a younger Ron Stoppable, Monkey Fist and Ron earning Mystical Monkey Power, the diverse schemes, the Yono incident, and many others. Martin felt particular pain when he saw the footage of his times with Ronilda: meeting her, arguing with her, saving her, teaching her, saving her again, kissing her for the first time on Big Ben (that one did make some of the judges whistle), and the last moments shared together. The humiliation was worse when the footage revealed Monkey Fist's hate shrine and... well, the love-making evening Martin had with Ronilda before she went to Dubai.

"Their crime? Monty Fiske, present here, uncovered a sealed power that would awaken Royal. We can agree that if Monty Fiske never went after the jade Idols, Ron Stoppable would never have gotten the powers that would title him an Ultimate Master, nor would he have bred the girl who'd host Royal. Silvia Winterfields, her family carried her ancestor's gift, which was none other than the essence of Crimson. Joining Monty Fiske has severely damaged the sanity of Ron Stoppable and his spouse, infecting her with irrational paranoia that would leave the girl vulnerable for years. Not to mention that the Fiskes bred a..."

"A ghud. True, Crimson is ineffective nor does she influence him, but clearly Martin Fiske was one of the many who opened up the girl's exposure to her fate."

"So I'm what, I'm bad influence? That's my crime?" Martin snapped.

The majority of the judges glared at him.

"Though can we say they're really criminals or victims?" Ruba's remark got their attention. "After all, they aren't like the fanatics we've encountered who embrace the full reincarnations of gods. Sure, it may seem like they are indirectly responsible, but at the same time, who's to say that they aren't just... victims of their own planetary ignorance and voluntary choice in lowering their state down the evolutionary scale?"

Murmurs spread around the judges. Ritus passed his turn.

"Ruba Kala is right. As far as it's confirmed, the slowness inflicted by human primitive mentality bars them from the universal cultures. With the lack of exposure, there was no way they'd know anything about the gods."

"The Fiskes are innocent." Ruba Kala dropped the mallet and the Fiskes were moved to a waiting couch by the wall. The next one up was Will Du, but he didn't deal with crap. No, the Felindrax applauded him for his effective leadership, the great methods he used during the search for Ronilda once she escaped her grandmother's apartment, and other non-important details. He was immediately labeled innocent.

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were next. And everyone knew that it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Kimberly Ann Possible. Retired crime-fighter, currently a global diplomat. You are deemed highly guilty," Ritus said sternly. "Ron Stoppable. Retired sidekick, currently a business leader. You are deemed half-guilty, half-innocent."

"Half guilty because you are an Ultimate Master who gave birth to Royal's host and exposed your powers to Lorwadia, but half-innocent for putting them in their rightful place as well as stabbing Iron," Loyus nodded.

"I'm sorry, but why am I the highly guilty one?" Kim Possible protested.

The Felindrax glared at her and brought up the footage. "History of self-entitled services, helping Monty Fiske uncover the Jade Idols, dismissing Ron Stoppable's capacities, provoking the Lorwadians into attacking your planet, and horrible parenting."

"Many alien planets out there are willing to abandon their children, but it's done in a bureaucratic. Files are filed and testimonies are witnessed. You, on the other hand, filed no human governmental testimony agreeing to give up your responsibilities to your mother. You psychologically weakened your child, leaving her prey to the charisma of Royal and Iron. You forced your husband into agreeing with you."

"It may be the norm for us to abduct, but without the proper bureaucracy, what you have done is the wrongdoing of a parent willingly abusing her child."

"I did not abuse my daughter!" Kim protested.

"You were willing to have her enclosed in an apartment several feet above the ground, without any contact from or exposure to the outside."

"I was afraid my enemies would use her against me..."

"So you confirm that you pushed her aside because she could have been your weakness?"

"No, I..."

"Not to mention that you failed to communicate with your mother to stay current on your child's welfare. After all, the only time you heard about her after you abandoned her, you had to be warned during your work."

The Felindrax started to get angry.

"Silence in the courtroom!" Ruba brought down the mallet. "Kim Possible's actions are an insult to the mere concept of parenthood. However, one couldn't argue that her odd choices in parenthood weren't affected by the mere nature that is the primitive human naivety. After all, since they couldn't protect themselves, can we blame them if they are incapable of protecting their own young?"

"You make a valid point, Ruba Kala, especially on the matter of the unruly mother. But the same can't be said for the father. _He _made more effort than she did and if I may add, he did succeed in bruising your companions Flora and Diamona," Ritus pointed out.

"What do I always say about humans? They should never be underestimated. But clearly, my remarks never get remembered."

The Felindrax nodded silently. The statement was made to officially label Ron Stoppable free of charges and Kim Possible due to some community service. As the couple was escorted out of the center and the Lipsky clan was called up next, the Simian Witch tapped the shoulder of the third-cured Felindrax bringing them herbal tea.

"What kind of community services will they have the guilty ones perform?" She whispered.

"Depends on the type and size of the committed crime," he whispered. "I don't know how long they'll make it for a human, but criminals charged for evil towards children must perform community services in child-based environments. They might have her work either in the primary education schools or the military training facilities."

"Good Lord."

"It would be far much worse if she was charged for endangering a particular Felindrax, especially one of higher status. She would have to redeem herself by becoming a permanent servant to the assaulted Felindrax." Before the Simian Witch could ask anything else, the third-cured Felindrax left after serving the tea.

The Lipsky clan (Drakken, Shego, Melgo, Motor Ed, and Edina) went rather quickly. The Felindrax congratulated Drakken for 'using a Coraplastia method of saving Earth' from the Lorwardians and being great parents with Shego to Melgo, questioning Motor Ed about the purpose behind 'ground-stuck vehicles', and asking Melgo and Edina about their 'dedication' to Ronilda.

"Ginger was really fun once you got to know her," Edina merely shrugged. "What else is there to know?"

"Of course I cared!" Melgo exclaimed. "She came to Y.E.A.R.N, Jack Hench told me to keep an eye on her, and I felt horrible seeing her the way she was! No parents, no home, no friends, no clue of her place in the world, and with a power I was worried would get her killed! I tried my best to help her! I was scared when Wardeth brainwashed her into hurting hundreds of innocents! Now I'm scared because she's lost in space! What did you expect me to do? Keep my arms crossed and just let her get exposed?"

The Felindrax had heartfelt expressions on their faces. "So beautiful..." Ritus pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose.

"Oh, sure, your monarchy. You cry when some primitive alien makes a speech on the magic of friendship, but you don't shed a tear when foreigners protest about the rise in timeshare fees," Loyus said drily.

"Economy is a different matter than emotional sensitivity." Ritus dried his last tears.

"Are you two done with your economy vs spirituality debate while we're still finishing our current case?" Ruba demanded.

"Forgive us," the monarch and high priest said in unison. The Lipsky Clan was pronounced innocent and moved forward with the last two humans.

"So if we understand well... a human with marine mutations was the only one to notice Diamona's Internet hacking... and it caused Ronilda Stoppable to survive longer?"

"_You_ hacked the Internet and sent all the emails to lure the villains to be buried alive in the Minalshari?" Gilliard stared at Diamona. "You were good, but seriously, the emails you came up with were lame."

Diamona facepalmed herself and used her spare arm to shove a bag of moonstone coins into the hands of a smirking Flora. "I keep telling you so," Flora taunted.

"Save your gloating for the next time you swim in your pool of gambled viols."

Gilliard was easily dismissed as innocent. DNAmy, on the other hand, wouldn't stop crying. Honestly, her sobbing was so loud and hysterical, she actually succeeded in making the Felindrax uncomfortable to continue.

"And she's crying for what reason?" Loyus complained. "Children going missing happen everyday. For all we might care, she might have been introduced to some planet and they're currently molding her to join their society."

This just made DNAmy cry even more.

"Oh, sure, High Priest of Violet," Ritus remarked in the same tone Loyus had used previously, "you have such a warm heart. And people wonder why you never got into an arranged marriage. Even when a mother cries over the possibility of never seeing her child."

"So?" Ritus was unfazed. "80% of the women on this planet have adopted daughters. She can just do the same and find a replacement."

"Give it a rest you too," Ruba groaned. "Amy Hall, you are deemed innocent. As for the rest of you, wait outside until the court comes with a fuller decision."

The humans were escorted outside to wait on the front steps. Even with the doors closed, they could hear the Felindrax arguing.

"Justice isn't going to be on our side," Kim Possible groaned in hopelessness.

"The High Priest was a horrible meanie!" Amy kept crying. Gilliard felt bad seeing her like this so he patted her on the shoulder.

"Hello, _chérubins_!" The humans were startled to see Camillo step out of a hover rail and walk towards him, his hands full of shopping bags with alien logos.

"Oh no, don't tell me..." Shego facepalmed herself.

"You weren't in the court... How on Earth did you manage to let the aliens bail you out from the court?" Killigan was baffled. "And why would you take the time to shop?"

"We were supposed to be trialed?" Camillo looked confused.

"Let me guess." Melgo sighed. "You were so obsessed with the advanced alien fashion you saw on the Universal Web, the moment we arrived in this area, you got into another hover rail and for the last hour or so, you went shopping?"

"_Oui_." Camillo held onto his shopping bags eagerly. "I charmed some female Felindrax girls into taking me to the Currency Converting Center. You won't believe it! One viol, you know, the main Felindrax money, is actually worth _$20,000_! The same as an American sports car! Since I'm the favorite of _grand-père_ and Señor Senior Senior spoils me on my birthdays, I converted three of my billion dollar credit cards into viols and I spent half of it on shopping!"

"So you spent 25,000 viols, the equivalent of 500 million dollars?" Martin gasped.

"Wow. These aliens are full of loot!" Gilliard whistled. "And judging by the six bags you have, you must have bought really expensive stuff."

"A good amount of stuff!" Camillo sat down on the steps. "I went shopping in the sixth neighborhood. Very nice, by the way. It reminds me of Monte-Carlo. I tell you, the streets are really organized. They made sure that for each established block, there's an even amount of residencies, stores ranked from cheapest to rarest value, entertainment facilities, restaurants, museums, schools, and etc. The stores there were a mix of all planets, but on this planet, they're organized based on the order of Violet's hosts, so the last six areas of the sixth neighborhood were the most expensive and that's where I went shopping!" He pulled out a cyan blue tailcoat with dyes of purple and black at the ends. He removed the human jacket he currently had worn to put on his new jacket. "What do you think?"

"It suits your fashionista ego," Martin said drily. "What other useless items did you purchase?"

"A pair of floral scented socks, a cropped top with a cool amethyst pattern, black pants, purple boots, and a tablet on the Felindrax laws and basic social expectations."

"May I see that, please?"

"Let me do it, please. I got the hang of these aliens' tablets." Camillo pulled out the tablet and typed on the surface, projecting images for them to see. "They manage to simply explanations that would need a whole essay for us. Hear this: '_It is only because Iron has cursed us that our people require structure to bring us back to our fully-cured beginnings._' When I was out shopping, I curiously asked one of the shop handlers how the money making business works for retail shops and he told me that every single person on this planet makes the same salary every year."

"That's impossible, there can't be the same income for a whole population!" Ron Stoppable disagreed.

"It would be if the population leaders were trying to 'equalize' the citizens priorities." Camillo air-quoted 'equalize'. "But then I remembered the mentions back on the spaceship of pre-teens being placed based on social observations to eventually have them take specific tests to determine their careers. It made me ask myself why they'd even bother having the children challenge each other based on their aptitudes when they're bound to the same equal benefits? I mean, back home, it's different because the difference in monetary benefits gives us a reason to compete..."

"Unless they didn't care much of the economic food chain, but the social food chain," Ron Stoppable said. Camillo gave him a 'you got it' wink. "The judges were organized based on their social statuses, which are determined by their careers, which are determined by the tests."

"Check it." Camillo projected a list of records. "Once a test has passed, they release to the public copies of how the candidate selection worked out. Let's pretend some half-cured got noticed for paying more attention in science than in any other class in primary education. Once he starts secondary education, he's placed with other boys focusing on science. As time goes, he shows more interest in biology than other sciences, so he's placed with other boys his age with interests in biology. Then, he shows talent at understanding health class, so he's placed in medical classes. He can recite the different versions of a serum, he's placed in a genetics class, and when he's sixteen, he's tested on genetics with other boys with aptitudes in genetics. In front of a whole audience, they must prove their knowledge by preparing serums and injecting them in real ill patients or perform blood transfusions. Test ends and he saved all the patients he was tasked, and for the next two years, he takes an apprenticeship in the best genetics lab on the planet while the other losers go to the second or third best ones. He finishes his apprenticeship, he gets married, and starts a long-career as an expert serum developer who will be called to tend to other planets without the proper medication to treat the ill, and for something that they don't have and that he has, foreign planets add additional to his paycheck."

"So let me see if I get this straight," Drakken raised his hands. "These aliens all get the same amount of money from their own government, but it's only when other planets start paying that the higher qualified workers add more to their bank account?"

Camillo nodded.

"So all those judges were probably higher-qualified workers in their fields."

"Even the monarch himself falls into the category. From what I read, only a fully-cured Felindrax can rule the planet but the people must agree that he or she is qualified to rule. Ritus is actually the third born out of six royal fully-cured Felindrax, but he was the one voted by the people."

"What of Loyus?" Monkey Fist asked.

"The High Priest? That's the only position passed on from parent to child, and since only a fully-cured Felindrax can claim it, it's generally from father to son. The locals don't think much of him from being _ivrogne_." The ones who didn't understand French just stared blankly.

"He means Loyus is drunk," Martin said drily. "No wonder Ruba mentioned she'd murder him if she found him boozing."  
"I asked about that to the retail shop owners. 'Of course', they told me. 'The High Priest's main function is to speak for Violet when she doesn't have a host, taking charge of most of the religious activities of the planets, and serving her host when the time comes. Since this cycle has gone billions of years without a host and we almost seemed to be getting nowhere, Loyus started drinking to deal with his newfound cynicism.' He's so cynical, the Felindrax couldn't even find him a suitable partner!"

"Yeah, try not to invite him for dinner." Flora said while she and Diamona were coming out of the Trialing Trinity. "OK, so there's good news, medium news, and bad news. The good news, the council has agreed to go with your suggestion, but only if there's such a thing."

"There must be." Martin got up and cracked his knuckles. "Luckily, research is in the Fiske gene..."

"Does the Fiske gene know anything about alien knowledge that's far older than your system? Why am I even asking? The only piece of knowledge of the gods you humans ever got made you think Violet was evil!" Diamona glared.

"The same way your hacking got exposed by a human with gills?" Flora snarked at Diamona, who grumbled and went on to give her another small bag of viols. Flora went back to Martin. "More polite version of what Diamona said: we recognize your researching capacities, Fiske, but in the parts of the universe that your planet isn't familiar with, the knowledge of the gods is very tricky. They don't always make it easy for us to understand what's going on in their heads. We might have mentioned it, but manuscripts, formatted like your physical forms, are the only formats of godly knowledge that is both written by hand... OK, I'm getting nowhere!"

"Basically you're saying that a manuscript on the gods might have details on the spell that could extract a god from his host, but it is unlikely that they'd make it easy for us, so there's a possibility that the gods might have allowed the manuscripts to be destroyed during their apocalypses," Monkey Fist summarized. "And even if you could find pieces, they would be too fragile to handle, so your priests are in charge of protecting them."

"Yeah, how did you manage to summarize this so quickly?"

"I wasted a year of high school trying to find Atlantis," he groaned. "Any of the things I tried to salvage... immediately dissolved into ashes when I brought them to the surface. Such knowledge that could have improved civilization... gone!"

"The one who promoted getting stoned for several years, improving society? Ha!" Ron Stoppable said cruelly.

"Ron!" Kim Possible was shocked, but Ron ignored her.

"I say we make a run for it and beg Ruba to just stick with the killing," Diamona bluntly told Flora out loud. "For Ronilda Stoppable, it would be more merciful."

"What's the medium news?" Drakken changed the topic.

"We're all stuck going to a dinner party at the royal palace tonight," Flora said. She shared an equally exasperated groan with Diamona. "It's one of those diplomatic balls Ritus throws every three months to invite foreign rulers and diplomats. Since his guests have never met other humans besides Ruba..."

"Whom they always fawn over!" Diamona coughs.

"Ritus has added you to the plus one guest list at the last minute. So suck it up to please these snobs."

"Especially the Indigo worshippers!" Diamona gagged. "Man, I hate them! Well, not as much as dislike Chemilumia folk!"

"OK, with you it makes sense since Batrishania and Chemilumia seriously dislike each other, but 'hate' doesn't go with those aliens made by Indigo the god of luxury. Try 'insanely, despicably loathing'!" Flora gagged as well. "The bad news? Since you're neither tourists nor prisoners, some of us will be stuck hosting you."

"We're sorry?" Martin frowned.

"Oh my! A Felindrax Cuddle Buddy!" DNAmy jumped off the step she was sitting on and gushed at a beast that was approaching. It looked like a tiger that would reach the chest of a human basketball player, but it also had the features of a lion since it had a strange mane. Then again, its main reminded the humans of lionfish fins and the colors of said fish were actually seen on the animal's hide.

"It's Van Gogh!" Flora gasped.

"You people name your cats after painters?" Shego asked.

"So cute!" DNAmy went to pet him, her tears suddenly gone. Flora freaked out and pulled DNAmy out of the way by grabbing her shirt.

"Are you mad? This isn't one of your mere Earth felines but a Felindrax dragon! Our most venerated animal and most dangerous predator on the planet! They spit acid and will attack strangers if they try provoking the dragons!"

"Flora, it's only Van Gogh." Diamona shrugged, raised her arms up, and walked up to Van Gogh. "What's up?"

Van Gogh shrugged off someone he was carrying on his shoulder. For a moment, they were worried he had killed him until the figure let out a snore.

"I don't believe it!" Flora joined Diamona.

"You still don't believe it after four years of knowing him?" Diamona said sarcastically.

The person was a boy, clearly not a Felindrax. Curled up in his napping, he almost looked too innocent to be the sixteen-year-old he actually was. His raven black hair were messy and met his shoulders, his soft ebony black skin was covered with some bruises and scars, and he wore an outfit just like the one Loyus had minus the headpiece and the kid's cloak met his waist.

Flora bent down and poked the boy's forehead with her index finger. "Coralus..." She whispered. "Coralus, wake up!"

"Is that the same Coralus that Loyus mentioned falling asleep during his shifts to keep an eye on the dragons' pen?" Martin asked.

"Same guy," Diamona nodded.

"Coralus..." Flora kept poking his forehead.

"OY! WAKE UP, LADDIE! YE NAP TIME IS OVER!" Killigan screamed at the top of his lungs over Coralus' ears. The boy immediately woke up to cover his pointed ears, something Diamona did with her own ears.

"For Ebony's sake, Duff Killigan, don't you know better than to scream in the sensitive ears of Batrishania folk?"

This startled the golfer. "How'd you know my name? We never met."

"The same way I know all your names. Duff Killigan, Drew Lipsky, Sheryl Gomez, Melgo Theodora Lipsky, Eddie Lipsky, Edina Lipsky, Kimberly Ann Possible, Ronald Stoppable, William Du, Gilliard Moss, Camillo Léon, Amy Hall, Montgomery Fiske, Silvia Winterfields..." He stopped rubbing his eyes and opened them, revealing their small size and emerald coloring. Coralus aimed those small emerald orbs at Martin.

"Crimson. It's been so long since you've put your host's foot on the land of your mistress."


	6. Coralus, Waremeralda, and Vergilus

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 6: Coralus, Waremeralda, and Vergilus

It only took Martin a few seconds to process Coralus' words.

How was it possible? How could Coralus have known that Martin had Crimson? The boys never even met until now and Coralus was speaking as though they had casual meetings every other Tuesdays.

"Coralus, how on Earth did you end up sleeping on Van Gogh?" Flora asked.

"I was sleeping on Van Gogh?" Coralus looked at the Felindrax dragon, who was rubbing his back onto the nearest statue as if he wanted to be rid of any potential germ. "I was sleeping under a tree next to you! Why was I on your back?"

Van Gogh merely ignored him and went back to rubbing.

"Of course..." Coralus grumbled. He turned to Flora and Diamona. "Things went the way they were supposed to at the trial?"

"You already know." Flora shrugged.

"And Ruba's currently conversing with monarch Ritus and my caretaker."

"Caretaker?" Martin was shocked. "Loyus is your guardian?"

"Was it the outfit that gave it away?"

"Not really."

"Though I do like the waist-cut cloak!" Camillo geeked once again. "Any chance I can meet up with the designers?"

"Sorry, these cloaks in particular are only worn by the High Priests in training. You might have to apply for it..."

"NO!" Flora and Diamona exclaimed in horror.

"Are you nuts?" Diamona knocked on Camillo's forehead to make sure he was still sane. "You want to end up like Loyus? Or is your shapeshifting clogging your eyeballs?"

"Diamona, he wasn't even there in the courtroom," Coralus commented. "He was in midtown around the time the judges were criticizing Kim Possible for her terrible parenting skills."

"Uh..." Martin raised his hand.

"What did you think of the usual Ritus vs Loyus banters?" Coralus ignored Martin and spoke to Flora.

"These two can't survive each other, I still don't know how Ruba handles them or how they handle her." Flora shrugged. "Trust me, we've been doing this for four years and I still fail to understand how their system works."

"The usual, Flora. Ritus and Loyus yell at each other like an old married couple, then Ruba yells at them like a mother to bratty children, Ritus and Loyus calm her down before Violet has her start lashing, they remind each other of their 'interpersonal amendments', and then Ritus and Loyus start talking about upcoming events. Right now? Discussing tonight's dinner party."

"Excuse me..." Martin failed to get their attention again.

"Hooray," Diamona muttered.

"Current topic? What is Ruba supposed to wear?" Coralus shook his head. "I mean, you people come up with decent rules, but still, the dress codes they come up with for Ruba whenever they have to promote the local godly host at diplomatic parties? I still wonder if it's not due to everyone's odd fascination for her ever since she hit her..."

"HEY!" Martin finally shouted, nearly glowing red in the process. Diamona and Flora took a step back, Van Gogh growled, and Coralus looked unfazed. "I hate to interrupt, but we're not all on the same page! How exactly do you know so much without even meeting us beforehand nor attending the events?"

"Some answers just don't need overly long details, do they?" Coralus responded. "I see things whenever I sleep."

"I'm aware of what a dream is."

"But _why _they come? Are you aware why dreams come with particular details?" Coralus was beginning to sound angry. "Are you aware what it's like being the only individual capable of predicting things because every time I close my eyes, I'm exposed to the dreams of every single living being in existence? Are you aware that I'M GOING INSANE?"

Diamona had to slap him before he could almost place his hands on Martin's throat to squeeze it. "Thank you," he sighed in relief and rubbed his pained cheek.

"So you can see the future based on the probabilities you witness from others' dreams?" Edina smirked. "That's a cool dream, seriously! I always wanted to have my fortune told! Seriously!"

"Halt on the 'seriously', I don't predict a guaranteed future!" Coralus held his hands. "Just something highly likely to happen depending on the dreams. And let me tell you, I see way too many weird dreams." He shuddered in disgust.

"I don't suppose you saw about me dressed as a mummy getting chased my monkeys driving monster trucks, seriously?"

"I did. That was before you got Anti-Sunshine here angry and then he got you into that full-body cast." He pointed at Martin, who was stunned that he got another new nickname. First, there were 'Cuddle Monkey' by Amelia, followed by 'British aristocratic snob', 'snob', and 'Snobartin' by Ronilda, then there was 'ghud' by some of the Felindrax, and now it was 'Anti-Sunshine' by Coralus.

The doors of the Trialing Trinity opened. Loyus was following Ruba, who looked beyond frustrated and tired, it was visible with the way she was glowing purple.

"All I'm saying is that we must make sure we catch up to the schedule starting tomorrow until the extraction spell's existence has been confirmed!" Loyus spoke in his most gritted patience. "I mean, the bridge accident, the upcoming tests of the military youngsters, the debate over the value of the Earth trinkets, the upcoming marriages, the babies you need to bless, the prayers..."

"And all I'm saying is that you should have warned me in advance and not wait to find out if I wouldn't be in a worse mood when you'd tell me at the last minute!" Ruba snapped. "Need I remind you used to do this before I was chosen and you would have continued down that same path if I never was chosen?"

"Ruba, when a godly host is chosen, the High Priest surrenders most of his functions to her and primarily helps her with the scheduling!"

"Well if you think you're useless outside of your regular functions, go jump in a bridge to retire and Coralus will take your position! At least with him, I don't have problems!"

"Are you two done?" Coralus asked.

Van Gogh changed attitude from an indifferent beast to an overjoyed pet. He pounced on Ruba and began licking her, causing her to laugh.

"OK, OK!" She got up and hugged Van Gogh. "I missed you too!"

"Yeah, why didn't you just bring Van Gogh on the mission to Earth?" Diamona asked while Ruba caressed the dragon. "He could have just mauled Ronilda."

"The same way he caused you to lose the finals four years ago when she told him to attack you?" Flora's snarking earned her more coins from Diamona.

"So it has been discussed with the council on the matter of your temporary stay," Loyus addressed the humans. "You'll be divided among local residents since you are neither tourists nor prisoners. We've contacted your hosts to come pick you up until guards will come collect you for tonight's event."

"Charming," Monkey Fist commented.

"Your family and the fish boy will be staying at Ruba Kala's residence."

The Fiskes and Gilliard widened their eyes in shock.

"Drew Lipsky and his wife and mother will be staying with Flora, the Killigans with Diamona..."

"That's manageable." Flora shrugged. "Diamona and I live in the same building."

"The rest will be staying with members of our military, for safety. And Ron Stoppable will be staying with me and Coralus."

This partially surprised everyone. The Felindrax clearly had a tooth against Kim Possible, but assigning the High Priest to guard Ron Stoppable? That was partially suspicious.

"I'd better knock them out before Loyus decides to throw a depressed fathers' drinking party and they reek at the party," Coralus groaned.

_Later_

The hover rail left the city's center and made it's way to the further neighborhoods. Since Ruba lived in the 10th neighborhood, she, Van Gogh, the Fiskes, and Gilliard would get off first while her friends took the Lipsky family and the Killigans to the 11th neighborhood. There was no holographic tour guide in this ride, but everyone was dead quiet. The only noise that could be heard was the purring Van Gogh made while Ruba continued to caress him.

The Simian Witch did look uncomfortably at the animal, making sure to keep herself away from it. She was aware that it was an alien dragon, but the fact it looked 80% like a tiger didn't stop her from remembering the Tiger Hunter, the old bounty hunter who had ended her entire family, threatening the Simian Witch to be the last of her kind until her son was born.

Gilliard was the first human who dared to approach Van Gogh. The dragon was skeptical at first, but after a moment of sniffing, he was OK with licking the fish boy's hand.

"How old is he?"

"Five to six years, I think." Ruba scratched Van Gogh behind the ear. "He was in a mechanical egg when I first met him."

"Are they born directly as adults?"

"No. He was held in a mechanical egg as part of the challenges I had to deal with when I was tested to be a potential godly host. He 'hatched' when I was in the same space at him and I had to choose either killing him with a dagger to save myself or decapitate him with an axe to make a trophy."

"You spared him."

"Of course I did. I noticed the scars on his hind legs. I didn't have the guts to kill something physically helpless. In the finals, he was put back with his pack and once again..."

"The finals..." Flora sighed.

"Yay, we miserably failed." Diamona agreed.

"Hold on. You two were also contestants?" Drakken waved his finger at him. "But... uh, how did _she _even beat you?"

Ruba scowled.

"Technically, Ruba did not defeat us." Diamona raised her finger. "We both lost to Felindrax dragons in the finals."

"Great. They make the tests like gladiator games? It's the Hunger Games all over again!" Melgo complained.

"I know what you're talking since I managed to read the online version while we were still trolling on Earth, but no, the tests are not a fight to the death," Flora responded.

"Death is a small possibility." Diamona shrugged dismissively.

"They always change every test for any potential career to see what the candidates are worth. With the tests to determine a winner and potential host for Violet, they are very picky in the yearly observations and make sure that the limited candidates are only the best girls among the sixteen-year-olds. They perform the tests, each challenging their cunningness, their awareness, and physical capacities, and how they do so in the given time either allows them to move forward or be eliminated."

"So it's two deaths or three there and a good amount in the infirmary."

"Normally, Felindrax dragons are either wild in the wilderness on the other side of the Trench, but those living with the city, it's a bit different. They're sacred animals of Violet, we're only allowed to kill them if they try to attack civilians, if they're too weak to survive in their pack, or if they are used in the tests we took. They're individually placed in the cunningness test, but the first half of the physical test requires the finalists to defeat a pack."

"The mess we made! I mean, the decapitations I threw, and your idea to doze them off with Morpheus Flowers almost worked..."

"If it weren't for that one that snuck on me! I got disqualified before it could maul me alive!" Flora clutched her fists.

"Oy, that rough!" Killigan grimaced.

"And what of you?" Monkey Fist asked Ruba. She grimly ignored him and continued playing with Van Gogh, who amused himself by nipping her hand with his teeth.

"They saw how she chose to spare Van Gogh when she saw him limp," Flora quietly answered for Ruba. "They wanted to see how she'd perform if she had to defeat him and his pack. Most of us either aimed for the heads, used distractions or our evolved capacities, but a majority of us got hospitalized because the dragons attacked first. Ruba neither attacked head on nor waited for them to attack first."

"Drop the suspense already, please," Shego begged.

"Ruba challenged the alpha for her position." Flora's response shocked the humans. "She fought the Felindrax dragon alpha in its usual ritual of combat. Claws against claws, they fought until Ruba managed to get a hold of the alpha's neck and strangled her. The other dragons fled in fear, but Van Gogh immediately embraced her."

They couldn't resist staring at Van Gogh's neck while he still nipped on Ruba's hand. Covered by a mane, so thick, and from their side, it almost seemed like every thousand hair strands were made of thin titanium strands. It was like imagining an alien Nemean Lion with impenetrable skin. To imagine Ruba strangling a Felindrax dragon alpha perhaps twice as big as Van Gogh... Ruba must have already had some dangerous superhuman strength before Violet came in. The humans began to remember when an injured Ronilda was brought back from Dubai. Ruba's attempt to strangle her was visible on the pale skin covering Ronilda's neck. If Ruba had managed to strangle a thick-necked dragon, the would have smashed Ronilda's the way one smashes a porcelain doll.

"_Arrival in Neighborhood Ten_," the hover rail system spoke.

Ruba got up and proceeded to step out, with Van Gogh following her and then the... guests.

"See you guys tonight," Ruba grumbled before the hover rail finally left off with the others. The station was a platform of sandstone, just like the sidewalks to the sandy roads. Planted in circular gardens, parks, or exterior designs were an assortment of typical desert plants such as cacti, boulders, wildflowers, palm trees, and shrubs. The buildings varied in height from two stories to six stories tall, with moonstone parts on all of them and a majority of the buildings appearing to be made out of some well-carved sandstones. The canals were intercrossing to form X shapes in this neighborhood and many civilians could be seen spending some time by the canals either boat-riding, fishing, or even swimming. In every street in the neighborhood, statues of some girl raising her hands in the air as if to summon a storm marked the crossroads.

"Wow. This neighborhood really matches your dry personality," Gilliard commented. The Fiskes glared at him, but Ruba couldn't hold back a chuckle. Even Van Gogh gave out his own form of laughter.

"I know, right?" She eagerly led the way through the streets. "The neighborhood's dedicated to my predecessor Sanda from Dunia." She waved at the nearest statue of the arms-raising girl, and after a closer look, they saw the carvings on her cheeks resembling Ruba's purple veins, only the star-shaped birthmark of Sanda was located on the navel. And Sanda clearly looked like she was only seventeen. The humans did look like they were tempted to ask how Sanda failed, but they knew Ruba would just go sour at any topic relating to Violet.

"What are Dunia's primary resources?" Martin asked.

"Oh, the usual. Sandstones for architecture, sand for roads and the canals, rubies for décor and jewelry, and red-colored pottery. The planet's notorious for its sandstorms, but since Dunia folks are used to walking in the sand on a daily basis..." Ruba kicked the sand underneath her feet in response.

It was noted during their walk that the aliens of Dunia passed off as regular humans excluding that they all were redheads, each with his or her own shade. And if they were the first majority living here, those of Oasia origins were the second biggest group. Ruba suddenly changed from a sour ball to a smiling one when passerbys started to greet her casually.

"Hello, Ruba. How was your mission?"

"It was alright. Things were rough."

"Ruba, welcome home!"

"Thanks. How's your wife?"

"Ruba, we heard what you did. Bringing the storm onto Iron! Awesome!"

"Well, I still didn't manage to kill Royal's host..."

"After the things you've handled for four years? Killing Royal's host will be a piece of pie!"

"Ruba! You're back!"

A sixteen-year-old had jumped out of nowhere and tackled Ruba with what seemed to be some sort of fist-bump handshake between the girls. The Fiskes and Gilliard took a step back because the six-foot-tall alien girl scared them with the familiar green skin and yellow eyes with red irises they had already seen in the first alien species that dared attack Earth.

"A Lorwardian?" Martin chocked. "You're friends with a Lorwardian?"

"Nah, that's just Emerald. Super friendly." Right after Ruba said that, Van Gogh rubbed himself on Emerald's leg. "See? Even Van Gogh likes her."

"Ooh, visitors!" Emerald went on to give rapid handshakes to all them, nearly threatening to rip their arms out. "Sorry! I heard shaking hands is how you humans greet, so I'm still new at this! My full name is Waremeralda, but people just call me Emerald for short. And yes, I have Lorwardian DNA, but I'm only half-Lorwardian. You can tell because of my short height, my red hair, and how my red irises are more sardonyx red than blood red!"

"Yeah, did you get a new hair dye?" Ruba asked. "Last time I saw you, it was cherry colored."

"Yeah, I made it more crimson red."

"_You're _short?" Gilliard was still in shock. "I mean, compared to Wardeth, you are shorter than him, but you're about the same size as Lebron James!"

"Is he an amazing warrior?"

"Human athlete, but forget it," Ruba said dismissively. "So how are things going, Emerald?"

"You prefer the good news or the bad news?" Emerald asked, calming down her hyper tone.

"Both."

"OK. The bad news is that because of the whole 'mishap' with Wardeth, it's putting other Lorwardians in embarrassing situations. First, there's the part that even though he's dead, Wardeth still hasn't paid you yet."

"Yeah, I'm still waiting for my money!" Ruba scowled.

"And then, thanks to Beeceeia tech having no sense of privacy, Wardeth's insanity and plan to use Ronilda Stoppable to take over the universe has ticked off the other planets! They easily dismissed the primitive Lorwardian methods of hunting for sport as long as it was done on moons, asteroids, or virgin planets, but their fleets attacking a sentient planet that the host of Violet came from? Threatening the universal union? Other planets are beginning to sue and now the local Lorwardians living here are getting death glares as if it was our fault!"

"But... that's highly unfair." The Simian Witch shook her head. "Only a couple Lorwardians go senile, they die, and other aliens choose to throw their anger at you?"

"Well you kind of saw it with Warmonga, Warhok, and Wardeth... OK, maybe not so much with the first two for some you because they died like past twenty years ago, but Lorwardians aren't exactly known for being civilized. It's easy for them to pick on other planets in their area in the 12th system, but compared to the older system, well..."

"Still need to be checked regularly?" Ruba offered.

"Yeah, something like that. I mean, after humans, Lorwardians are the ones that the elites easily under-look, and when there are Lorwardian minorities living in other planets... You get the picture."

"How many Lorwardians are there here?"

"Just 150 per year depending on who stays, who leaves, and who dies. And at every new generation, there's only five Lorwardian girls who get introduced to the Felindrax society because of this baby." Emerald tapped on her forehead, making the humans feel stupid for not noticing the tiny purple star birthmark.

"Emerald, I got to take them to my house. Want to come?" Ruba asked in a hurry.

"Ooh, yes!" They continued to make their way, this time in an area of the neighborhood with bigger spaces to make room for far bigger homes, indicating that they were perhaps entering the wealthiest part of the neighborhood. "Oh, I forgot to tell you the good news, Ruba! I'm getting tested tomorrow!"

"Really?" Ruba was startled. "Loyus mentioned upcoming tests for potential military careers. In what position are they trying to place you in?"

"Spaceship captain!" Emerald gave a big, proud smile.

"That's cool," Gilliard said. "Does that mean you get your own spaceship?"

"Depends on how I perform. The lowest to highest positions in a particular Felindrax career are given depending on the lowest to highest performers in the given tests. If I pass my tests greatly, I'll be given the career of military spaceship captain. If my score's medium, I'll have to be the captain of some merchandise carrying spaceship. I hope I don't get a low score because I really don't want to be the captain of a scavenging spaceship!"

"We'll just have to find out tomorrow." Ruba shrugged. "Don't expect me to gamble."

"_Never_!" Emerald shook her head. "Just knowing you will be watching me pass my test will be the greatest thing ever! Hey, look! It's your house!"

_Meanwhile, in the eleventh neighborhood_

Besides the moonstone sidewalks, building foundations, statues, and etc, the eleventh neighborhood really looked like an urban jungle.

The building in which Flora and Diamona lived in looked like a synthetic sequoia tree on the outside and a futuristic condo on the inside. Once the girls checked in with the guard at the front desk, they took the elevator with the Lipsky family and the Killigans. As the platform went up, they could see how every apartment in this building was hexagon shaped, giving the feeling of being bees in a hive. Vines grew on the walls as framing décor and maintenance was constantly seen tending to the plants growing in the hallways. When they reached the floor, they walked on some grass-carpeted floor.

"If you guys need anything, my apartment is at the end of the hallway," Diamona stated before leading the Killigans. Flora stood before a door and placed her hand on the scanning screen.

_"DNA scan recognition. Welcome home, Flora Terra ut Serumus_."

"Your whole name?" Melgo guessed as the door unlocked.

"All aliens go on a first-name basis, but to be more civil, we use our licensed names," Flora said. "What you call a last name on Earth is the name of the parents combined together here. 'Ut' means 'with' in these cases. Flora Terra ut Serumus, Flora the daughter of Terra with Serumus."

"Must be a mouthful," Melgo remarked.

"If you say so, Melgo Theodora Lipsky Sheryl ut Drew." Flora pushed the door open, leading to an apartment with the insides just big enough to remind the Lipsky family of their apartment back in the Minalshari before Wardeth blew it up. The moonstone walls were covered in murals of beautiful vines, trees, and flowers, perhaps to make the residents feel like they had an unreachable forest on their walls. In almost every corner of the apartment, there were signs of potted or planted trees and flowers: half of the living room was a soil patch of growing flora, vases full of flowers rested on the tables and the furnitures closest to the doors, and vines were perfectly trimmed to frame the doorways. The chairs and couches had purple or green patterns of flowers, a statue of what seemed to be Violet's eleventh host rested on the dinning table, and a third-cured Felindrax was mopping the floors. He paused his cleaning and bowed before Flora.

"Welcome home, Ms. Flora. Your human guests, I suppose?"

"Yes, these are Dr. Drew Lipsky, his wife Sheryl Gomez, and their daughter Melgo Theodora Lipsky. You may refer to them as Drakken, Shego, and Melgo," Flora did the introductions. "This is Dianthus, our third-cured Felindrax housekeeper."

"Uh, hello?" Drakken said sheepishly.

"As I've been informed by the High Priest, I made sure to have the guest room ready and programmed the regular bed to split into three evenly comfortable beds. Would you like me to escort you so you may settle down?"

"No thank you," they declined calmly.

"Then perhaps would you like me to prepare some herbal tea with homemade Coraplastia fruit pudding? It is very high in flavor and vitamins and low on calories."

"You don't have to if you don't want to!" Drakken said quickly.

"But I want to! I'll go ahead and prepare the tea while you rest in the living room!" Dianthus put away his mop and walked to the kitchen.

"Dianthus, aren't my parents supposed to be home yet?" Flora asked.

"Master Serumus is being held back at the botanical biochemistry lab due to an accidental pheromone spillage. Mistress Terra, being head of the lab's security staff, had to stay back as well for further inspections." Dianthus chopped some petals and grinded them into colorful dust before throwing them into the kettle full of water waiting to be boiled. "Your brother is in his room, studying for his apprenticeship. And Vergilus is in the living room."

They blinked and turned to the living room. A young man, perhaps the same age as Flora, had his eyes glued to the holographic projections. Besides his purple hair tied in a ponytail, he showed no signs of being a Felindrax. Peach skinned, violet eyes, all of his red and green clothing with vined themes, and green sandals, he had the vibes of a Coraplastia folk, but he didn't look like Flora.

Flora cautiously approached him. "Uh... Vergilus?" She noticed his projections. "Why are you paying your bills in my apartment... again?"

"I needed a quiet place..." He cut himself off when Flora started typing on his tablet and finished his work for him. "Oy. Paying bills for the upcoming ten months, took me two hours to finish the first half, and you beat me by finishing the second half in a second."

Flora turned his tablet off and put it away on a shelf at the other side of the room. "What happened this time? Did Geni crack you up? Or did Soul blow up your Aresian Asters?"

"Loyus must have told Ruba about the bridge accident."

"Oh, right." Flora grimaced.

"Geni thought he could 'improve' the pen locks! Sure, ask the owner of the Entertainment Emporium to secure the locks, and how does he try to improve them? Taking inspiration from the lock stunts for the escape performances!" Vergilus dropped himself on the couch.

"Frankly, even we could have told you it was predictable," Shego remarked.

"Oh, before I forget. Vergilus, these are last-minute guests. Drakken, Shego, and their daughter Melgo. They're from Earth."

"Seriously? Ritus and Loyus gave in? And I thought the universe couldn't be further broken." Vergilus straightened himself up on the couch.

"Drakken, Shego, and Melgo, this is Vergilus. Accountant at the Entertainment Emporium, part-time yoga teacher, and amateurish philosopher. He's from Coraplastia like me."

"But... he doesn't have your skin tone and hair color." Melgo pointed out as she bothered to sit down on the nearest armchair.

"Eh, one accident leads you to be exposed by ultraviolet radiations and your pigmentation changes," Vergilus shrugged. "Then again, I like to think that an alien species being physically labeled primarily because of common genes is just a manifestation of foreign ego. After all, all species start with the gods' Prototype Zero, but it's being spread and exposed to the diverse environments of their new homes that forces them to evolve into how we currently appear. How do the evolved bodies manage to breathe longer in water, burn less in heat, endure storms, or even capture solar heat through their own methods of photosynthesis? And when it seems like we have come to our final evolved forms where an alien's species is primarily recognized by his or her physical appearance, what does it make of those with peculiar characteristics? What confuses them about seeing a Coraplastia male affected by ultraviolet radiation, a Lorwardian shorter than the others, a species' minority that can neutralize its gender state, or the fact that something evolving too-slowly as a human may be revealed as the strongest creature in the universe? An alien's physical form should not be the final statement of the verdict."

Flora looked exasperated, Shego just frowned, Drakken was confused, and Melgo merely commented: "Amateurish philosophy, huh?"

"I'm still working on de-cluttering the beliefs." Vergilus shrugged.

"Here is the herbal tea and fruit pudding!" Dianthus placed a tray bearing a silver tea kettle, five teacups, and a bowl full of green colored pudding covered by mint leaves and chopped berries, perfectly arranged to make it look like a fruit flower was growing on a small, gooey plain.

"I'll be back. I need to check on my brother." Flora made her way to the hallway. Melgo and Drakken looked uncertainly at the fruit pudding until Vergilus picked one of the chopped fruits, dipped it in the green pudding, and ate it. "Very delicious, Dianthus, but I wouldn't add so much kiwis."

"Thank you, Vergilus." Dianthus went back to morphing.

"So what are your professions back on Earth?" Vergilus casually asked Drakken and Shego.

"Botanist and public events coordinator," Drakken answered.

"He did try to take over the world until the first Lorwardian invasion," Shego added while she poured herself some tea.

Vergilus frowned. "Why would you want to take over your planet?"

"There's at least seventy reasons as to why villains wanted to rule the word," Melgo shrugged. "But after the first Lorwardian invasion, they kind of went out of business and into hiding."

"Perhaps it was for the best? After all, to seek forceful dominance over a land that was already given to you would be to show ingratitude towards those who had given it..." He paused. "No, wait, Royal created Earth. Scratch what I said."

"Real fact or are you saying that just because Earth is known as the Blue Planet?" Drakken asked.

"That's some false publicity, don't you think?" Vergilus shook his head. "Planets are just made of the leftover debris from the destruction of a previous cycle. Technically, when one god assembles the debris to make the planet, it does qualify as 'his or her' planet because that deity literally created it. Still, the debris that contributed to the planet's creation are mixture of leftovers from other gods' planets, thus leaving traces to help find godly hosts if needed."

"You do know that's not the scientific reality, right?" Drakken said skeptically.

"True. It's the religious reality."

"Since you seem to know a thing or two on the matter, do you know anything about a method that could extract Royal from my friend Ronilda?" Melgo dared to ask. "Coralus and the others were rather vague."

"Well with Coralus, it's obvious. Getting his special talent of seeing probabilities through dreams has led him through traumatizing experiences. He was only twelve when he got them and Ruba found him being exploited to the point of being drained of his energy. She brought him back to the Felindrax but kept the origins of his powers secret except to a restricted amount of people. Loyus adopted him, gave him a chance to be his sole heir as High Priest of Violet and on how to keep himself reserved when it comes to his talent. So don't really expect him to go all joyful like a Canary-worshipper.

"But concerning your original question, I have heard of that method."

Melgo and her parents began to smile in hope.

"But the only thing that I know about the method is that it's only been used twice. The first time worked, but the second time failed."

"I think Diamona mentioned a goddess trying it." Shego took a sip of tea.

"That was Pearl the goddess of purity," Vergilus aimed for the pudding. "Mythical records say that she fell in love with her own host, so she used the spell to extract herself and be placed in another body. Naturally, Pearl's original host fled the moment she was released."

"That's... something."

"What of the second time?" Drakken asked.

"The second time was done during the second cycle," Vergilus answered. "It was the last time a host of Iron ever rebelled against the god. The Dunia man never listened to Iron's orders and constantly suffered from Iron's internal abuse. He tried to use the method to force Iron out of him, but the god of age threatened to put his organs in a chain reaction of combustion unless the host stopped. The man stopped, but Iron still killed and reincarnated in him."

This horrified the humans.

"So, if we do find the method, it's only a 50/50 chance that Royal would get out?" Melgo asked.

"It's pretty much like that for mortals who were forced into being godly hosts without even consenting, generally because they were born or drugged into it. It's different with Violet since she makes a contract where the girl is willing to take her in. Which means for Ruba that there are only two possible ways to be free: kill Royal to save us all... or be killed and everyone else will follow."


	7. The House of Ruba Kala

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 7: The House of Ruba Kala

They finally got to Ruba's house.

The humans did expect her to be living in some kind of chateau due to her status or maybe even a building of extravagant alien architecture, but in all its alien glory, Ruba's house was a modest mansion. Half the height of the Fiske Estate, the walls were made of sandstones and the windows spotless. The curved roof was covered by blue tiles perfectly arranged to give the feeling that it could have been a waterfall. A sandstone garden wall surrounded the house and on it were blue and red painted carvings of what seemed to be Dunia and Oasia folk in their daily lives. The wall's door was composed of some see-through material, making any one from the street able to see the flourishing garden, the pond, the sitting area, and a vague view of the pool at the other side.

"It's my childhood home... except it's in outer space," the Simian Witch sighed.

Ruba pressed her hand on the scanning screen that rested on the doorway.

"_DNA scan recognition. Welcome home, Ruba Kala Sharia ut Diagnus._"

"Hey, Emerald, what time is it?" Ruba asked the half-Lorwardian as the door unlocked.

"Thirty minutes after the third hour of the afternoon."

"Huh. My mother should be picking up Cainus from school..."

"She already did. She's just being laid back because his class's chief educator summoned her."

"_Again_?" Ruba looked worried. "I'm just going to ask right away... does nobody give me an update on what goes on here when I'm gone?"

"Well your folks didn't want to bother you because they're aware that you had a priority on Earth, and... your brother passing the fourteens examination would have just stressed you out."

"I AM STRESSED OUT!" Ruba freaked out. Her purple veins were starting to glow.

"Easy there on your magic, Twilight Sparkle." Gilliard patted Ruba on the shoulder. "Unless you want to throw a homecoming party and give your parents a heart attack by nuking their garden."

"Good point." Ruba calmed down and led the way to the front door.

"What's a Twilight Sparkle?" Emerald asked curiously.

"Do you never stop talking?" Monkey Fist grumbled before his wife could glare him.

"Nope. I'm just openly friendly."

"I figured."

"You could try. You'd be surprised on how it does wonders for the soul."

Ruba led them inside through the front door. Yet again, this looked nothing like some snobbish household dedicated to the deity that lived inside one of the members. The sandstone walls were darker on the inside and the moonstone planks on the floor and staircase were polished. From the front door, they had an immediate access to a long dinning table with numerous chairs, a doorway leading straight to a beyond modern kitchen, and a living room consisting of a carpet with patterns that they later learned were Dunia patterns, simple couches made of red-and-blue fabric that reminded you of fire, a glass coffee table, a series of shelves bearing tablets, and the alien version of television. The main decorations were flowers in vases on the dining table, a tapestry hanging on the living room's left hall, and the alien version of 'family pictures', framed videos hanging on the walls or resting on furniture.

Ruba and Emerald took their shoes off. Even Van Gogh wiped his paws before making his way to a Van Gogh-sized cushion that rested by the staircase.

"It really does remind me of my childhood home," the Simian Witch began to look sad, "before it got destroyed." Monkey Fist held her hand for comfort.

For once, Emerald did not look overly curious but sympathetic. "I'm sorry for your loss. I personally don't know what it's like to lose a home, but I can tell when it stings. At least you managed to find solace in your current home."

The Simian Witch wanted to say something but she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down. It was a Felindrax male, perhaps a few years older than Loyus. His black hair was disappearing through grey strands and his sand-colored, slightly wrinkled skin was ruined by a patch of darker sandy skin that went over his mouth. Despite his age, his golden eyes were still sharp. He held some sort of vacuum, implying he recently cleaned the rooms above, but the moment he saw Ruba, he cautiously put the machine down, made his way down as civilly as he could, and immediately embraced Ruba.

"Marblus!" Ruba was overjoyed. "I missed you so much!" She embraced him back before giving him some air. "I'm sorry if I brought you guests at the last minute."

Marblus merely shrugged and gestured at the clean house.

"Yeah, I can tell you put a lot of effort in making it presentable." Ruba continued talking to him while he responded in physical or facial gestures.

"Uh..." Gilliard looked confused.

"Marblus is a third-cured Felindrax born mute," Emerald explained to him. "He's a really great Felindrax. He's been a housekeeper to Ruba's family ever since her parents were married and a nurse slash surrogate grandfather to their children."

"But!" Ruba seemed to be protesting against something Marblus silently suggested, but he placed a shushing finger on his lips and gently pushed her towards the staircase. "Yes, I did, but..."

Marblus gave her a stern look.

"OK, I will. But if my parents come home and ask, you tell them it was your fault."

Marblus merely shrugged and Ruba went upstairs.

"You told her that with the crap she's been dealing with today, she should be resting before the stupid evening party at the royal palace?" Emerald guessed.

Marblus gave her a dry look.

"OK, I know you didn't say stupid, but you meant it."

Marblus gave her one of those looks that implied he wanted her to shut up.

"Forgive me," Martin asked quietly. "I don't suppose you know sign language?"

"Marblus does use sign language, but hardly any alien out there bothers to give time to learn the languages of the mute, so he occasionally has to use a vocal speaker to communicate..." Emerald tried to explain. "But Marblus hates using the vocal speaker -he finds it very insulting- so we eventually manage to understand him with his expressions."

"How different can alien sign language be from human sign language?" Martin tempted.

Marblus quickly signed with his hands and Martin managed to pick up very quickly. "Particularly tricky. Huh. I didn't know the alien sign language has more verb tenses than the human one."

"You managed to pick it up?" Emerald was impressed.

_A few minutes later_

They were sitting in the living room, waiting for the household's main masters to come home from work. Marblus brought herbal tea and platters of mini-violberry cakes and some sort of lilac colored caviar. The Fiskes and Gilliard were rather startled by how delicious the food was compared to the one they had on the spaceship.

"Should I bring some up for Ruba?" Emerald asked Marblus. He shook his head. "You're probably right. After all, it's either for the royal chefs to feed a lot of dishes to a very hungry godly host. And I bet the frustrations of the foreign diplomats will suffice for Violet enough to give Ruba some sleep tonight."

Marblus let out a silent sigh of relief.

"Yeah, pulling night guarding shifts is way too tiring," Emerald agreed.

"Night guarding shifts?" the Simian Witch asked.

"Unless Violet has fed on enough frustration, Ruba apparently screams in the middle of the night," Martin reminded his mother.

"Well it's not really the 'middle of the night'. It can happen anytime in the evening, which is why Marblus and Ruba's parents take turns throughout the night between falling asleep and staying up in case Ruba needs attention," Emerald said. "We don't really know the things that happen to her in head... she just says that Violet talks to her, but it can lead to some damages to her physical self. Bruises, bleeding, and the occasional dehydrating mishaps."

Marblus slightly shuddered at the mention of 'dehydrating mishaps'. Emerald grimaced. "I know. Remember the freak night of two years ago. She threw up all day, Diagnus begged for both of them to have the day off so that he could take care of her."

"Sounds like Dad of the year." Gilliard stuffed himself with mini-violberry cakes.

Marblus quickly signed to Martin. "Diagnus is an on-the field doctor. Very practical methods, does house calls, a good master to you, a good husband to his wife, a good father to his children, and... a no-seller to Loyus and Violet?"

"Diagnus doesn't really respect Loyus," Emerald put down her cup. "Then again, he did mostly spend his time outside of his career with drinking away his nearly-impossible job, and since Felindrax doctors only drink alcohol once per month, Diagnus sees Loyus as senile. With Violet, his logical mind understands the importance of Violet for our culture, but since she values mortals' independence from gods... you can say he gives her a taste of her medicine."

"And I'm guessing that he's not too happy with the negative effects that impacts Ruba's health," Martin said.

Marblus silently groaned and signed to Martin.

"Of course he's not happy." Martin translated. "True, it brings him pride that his child was honored by Violet and confirmed the family's faith in her, but as Violet's presence influences her health..." Marblus couldn't continue anymore and quickly stashed the dirty dishes onto the tray. He ran to the kitchen, allowing them to hear the noises of rapid water.

"So... when the Global Justice medics noticed something off in Ruba that was causing her health to decline, she wasn't faking it like she claimed?" Monkey Fist was stunned. "Don't the Felindrax know that she's... ill?"

"It's not really an illness but a severe weight for balance," Emerald said. "Every powerful warrior or alien out there comes with something that must balance out the power. Then again, Diagnus, the other Felindrax doctors, and Loyus are still not quite sure what's causing Ruba to hold health issues even though hosting Violet should give her super-powered health and durability. They don't know if it's because she's lived longer than her predecessors or if it's her human metabolism that's still struggling to keep up with the godly perks. It's not going to kill her, but trying to hide it to not freak out the population is damaging her mind."

"The meal skipping, the reactions to communicating with Violet at night, and feeding on others' frustrations?" Martin made the list by using his fingers.

"And the self-inflicted traumas and how the universe is full of political wackos, space vampire psychos, and anybody who has something on their list they want to put Ruba in." Emerald saw the creeped out expressions in their faces. "So... would you like me to show the guest chamber?" Emerald asked Monkey Fist and the Simian Witch. "Marblus is quite sure your son and the fish can easily share the space in Cainus' room."

So while his parents were being escorted upstairs by the Lorwardian teenager, Martin leaned on the armchair he was sitting and pinched his nose in frustration. This was getting ridiculous! Now he could see more on how Ruba Kala and Ronilda Stoppable were reflections of each other as rival godly hosts: suppression, anxiety, desire to hide weakness, and a life-threatening duty that put their health in the no man zone. The main difference was that while Ronilda was mentally suppressed in a claustrophobic zone with nothing much from her parents, Ruba Kala was being doted by a whole community placing high expectations and prompting her to hide her weaknesses to blend in the evolved populace.

"I never thought I'd miss your old library." Gilliard went through the shelves, skimming through the contents of any tablet he could find. Each one released holographic projections of texts, images, maps, footage, graphs, and anything deemed informational. There were even some highlighted areas in the holograms to indicate the most read sections. "Can you believe this is how they live?"

"Why are you surprised? You spend most of your time on the Internet."

"Not that. Almost everything that's 'reading' is only related to the residents' practices. Medicine, child education in numerous levels, military, geology, and home maintenance. Even the alien versions of science-fiction I found on some of the tablets relate to the fields they practice. Check this, since Ruba's brother is in the geology field, the fiction texts he read is about sentient rock formations. Ruba reads some theory texts about the negative beliefs of godly hosts..."

"Are they being serious?" Martin couldn't believe it. "As if religious persecutions wasn't bad enough on Earth..."

"Oh, it doesn't talk about that kind of stuff. You know how these people are all 'be independent from the gods'? The theory texts Ruba reads are explaining the reasons as to why aliens are in a schism between the formal ones who can explain the negative impacts the gods other than Violet bring, and the fanatics who think destruction is the only way mortals can evolve. It would explain why some people out there think Violet corrupts others since she's the alien goddess of frustration."

Martin's expression softened. "That makes sense," he said. Gilliard passed him the tablet and went on to put the others back in place.

Just then, the front door opened.

"All I'm saying is that this is turning into an exhausting situation."

"I know..."

"Do you? Cainus, this is your future we're talking about! I'm scared for you! You know what happens to Felindrax who can't be placed in a specific category for the tests and later for a career!"

Marblus had rushed out of the kitchen to greet the mistress and her son. Martin and Gilliard made themselves discreet as they watched from the living room. Sharia took off her purple coat and didn't refuse Marblus' offer to hang it up. She was a Dunia woman of at least 5.5 feet tall, her curly red hair was of a beige range and most of it reached her shoulders while some part of it was in a braid hanging just by her left ear. Her attire consisted of a shoulder-revealing blue top, tight purple pants, and black alien combat boots. Her greyish blue eyes were very focused on her son Cainus.

Cainus was only fourteen. He had the attributes of a half-cured Felindrax: golden eyes, sand-colored skin, and a slouching spine. The only exception was the beige red hair he inherited from his mother. He was wearing what seemed to be a black-and-purple one-piece school uniform.

"Oh hi, Mrs. Sharia!" Emerald came downstairs. "Ruba's napping in her room."

"She's not sick, is she?" Sharia looked worried.

"Just of her job." Emerald shrugged. "I've got to get going. Please give my highest regards to your husband."

"Aren't you coming tonight?" Cainus frowned. "I heard Coralus invited you."

"He did, but my mother says I should be in full shape for my tests tomorrow and a party at the palace should be last on the list. See you tomorrow." And to that, Emerald left.

"Yeah, her mom just made that excuse because she doesn't like Coralus spending time with Emerald," Cainus said flatly.

"Don't change the subject," his mother told him. "As for you two, you can stop eavesdropping."

Gilliard and Martin weren't sure if she was talking to them, but they got the confirmation when her eyes glared at them sharply.

"Please don't kill us..." Gilliard prayed.

"So Ritus wasn't joking... we're hosting humans. Marblus!" Sharia stormed into the kitchen. "Where's the Iceberia Vodka? I'll need to restrain myself if I don't want to plan Loyus' funeral!"

"O...K..." Martin looked hesitantly at Cainus. "Now I know where your sister gets her attitude from."

"Nah, Mom's not always like this. Today's one of her rough days." Cainus pointed towards the staircase. "You guys want to come to my room?"

_Later_

Cainus' room was very spaced. It was big enough to fit two king-sized beds. One of them was intact, neatly folded, and in the Spartan area of the room where there were only a few pictures on the walls and a half-empty closet. The other bed, clearly the bed of Cainus, was occupied with pillows and bed sheets with star motifs on them. On his side of the room, the walls were covered with family pictures, rockstar posters, records of his best school grades, and equations drawn on the surfaces. His desk had stacked tablets and a lava lamp, his closet was full and neatly organized, and anything he had for entertainment was organized in alphabetical order.

Martin and Gilliard just sat on the bed, unsure what to say. Cainus was about to reach the other door in his room, but he refrained himself when he heard the rushing sound of water. He stayed quiet as the first signs of steams came from underneath the door.

"Ruba's taking a bath. She must be ticked off."

"Maybe she's trying to relax?" Gilliard suggested.

"A girl who always takes cold showers, relaxing in a boiling bath?" Cainus said skeptically. He pointed his finger at the door, just in time for them to hear the version of screaming in water instead of a pillow. Martin and Gilliard looked uneasily at the door while Cainus walked to the closet near them and searched through the clothes.

"You can use some of my brother's clothes while you're here," he told Martin. "Your friend should be able to wear some of mine. You'll both need some formal Felindrax clothing for tonight."

"Thank you." Martin grimaced.

"You don't have to wear shoes at the reception."

Martin frowned. "How did you guess?"

"Because you obviously hate shoes?" Cainus pointed at Martin's monkey feet. "It's not a shame to go barefoot. They'll probably think you're religious or something. Other religious aliens walk barefoot."

Martin was stunned. Cainus wasn't even caring about the fact that he had simian limbs. Perhaps due to the diversity of the aliens around him, he assumed it was normal for humans to also have this sort of appendage?

"Did you get them through some genetic experiment?"

Then again, not.

"No, I was born with them. But my father did have a procedure done on him."

"Similar scenario with me," Gilliard raised his hand, "except my dad turned into a mutant due to a polluted lake."

"That's messed up." Cainus frowned as he pulled out a black coat with purple trimmings. His frown switched to an approving smile when he found a fitting purple jumpsuit. "Then again, it would explain why none of you look like my sister."

"Jolly." Martin's dry comment resulted in Cainus punching him on the arm. He covered his mouth to hold back the bone-hitting pain.

"Watch it. I don't like it when people talk trash about my sister," he warned.

"He wasn't insulting her." Gilliard reassured Cainus. "He's just saying it's a good thing we don't resemble Ruba because she's unique. I mean, could you imagine a planet where all humans are a Ruba Kala?"

Cainus looked uneasily at Martin. "Oops."

"Good save..." Martin collapsed on the bed. Cainus' punch was worse than Ronilda kicking him in the groins, a habit she had picked up when training under his tutelage.

"I'm sorry, I'm just having a bad day." Cainus sighed and sat down on his bed.

"Well you know, parental approval is a hard thing," Gilliard shrugged, "but then again, there's nothing we can change much. I mean, _my folks_ are divorced and I just gave up expecting thumbs-up from them. Since Martin's mom used to be my dad's boss when he was a teen, I pretty much live with them and I don't have to worry about their approval because they're too busy sugarcoating _him_ with their high expectations." He pointed at Martin.

"And yet you still have problems washing your own laundry," Martin quietly snickered.

"Says the guy who has primates do his own laundry."  
Martin groaned in exasperation. Cainus, on the other hand, was struggling to hold back his chuckles. "You two argue almost as badly as I did with my big brother Abelus back when we still shared a room."

"Oh, you mean the one who studied geology?"

"Hm."

"Man, I can't imagine how it must be difficult for you. Youngest kid, your brother is a scientist and your sister a divinity slayer."

"Not really. It's much harder for my parents... They're currently a bit out of sorts."

"Yeah, Emerald might have mentioned that you passed a test flawlessly. You know, on Earth, people would applaud you for getting a grade higher than 100%."

"Except on this planet, the variations of your educational performances help others determine what are your best assets." Cainus looked morbid. "I'm too scared to fail, but since I do so well, they can't determine where to put me by the time the sixteen-year-olds' tests come, and if I don't pass them..." Tears were beginning to form on his eyes.

The bathroom door burst open. Ruba came out, in a purple bathrobe. Gilliard looked away, but Martin accidentally spotted her while he still lied down, recovering from the punch. His conscience hammered him when he blushed at the sight of her pale skin, still wet from coming out of the shower. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it to avoid staring more. Ruba went to comfort Cainus.

"Don't worry, Cai," she reassured him. "You'll do better. Besides..." She smiled at him, "it's not your fault if your class isn't full of insufferably smart brothers."

Cainus let out an amused gasp of shock.

"Feel better now?" Ruba asked.

"Thanks, sis." Cainus straightened himself on his chair and Ruba made her way out through the bathroom door. "I still need to pick my suit for tonight. What are Ritus and Loyus forcing you to wear tonight?"

"The dress that the Erosia monarch gave me."

"Ugh!" Cainus gagged. "You mean the one with that tacky imperial purple color?"

"Yes."

"The way too big slits on the skirt's sides?"

"Unfortunately."

"The one with that corset with 42 screws with 5 levels each?"

"I know."

"I hate that dress!" Cainus complained. "You hate it as well! You're the godly host, Ruba! Why do you ask Violet to smite Loyus for making you dress like a whore?"

"**We've been over this,**" Violet spoke through Ruba. "**Ruba is my host and her main focus is doing the things that come in the job. Loyus and Ritus are mainly the... publicists.**" Disgust was still heard in the goddess's tone.

"But that corset is awful and they always make you tighten it at the deepest level! Remember when you wore it for that gala hall last year, it was so tight that your stretch marks gave you stomach pain? Dad almost managed to get Van Gogh to rip off Loyus' butt skin!"

Gilliard and Martin, who had removed the pillow, shuddered at the image. Ruba sighed, shook her head, and closed the bathroom door behind her. Cainus groaned and forced his closet open.

"I'm... gonna have to agree with you. If your sister is pretty much the planet's all-powerful being, why can't she just decide what she wants to wear?" Gilliard asked.

"Oh, she wears what she wants. Just... for everything except important public events. With Felindrax-exclusive events, it's formal attire with a bit more... additional gleam, depending on the event. But it's different when it concerns diplomats or visiting monarchs. With them, the views vary between Violet's host being a liberator or their species' views on what divine beauty really is."

"You must be joking." Martin sat up. "You're telling me they think Ruba is just some... trophy?"

"Apparently they didn't have that view with the previous hosts. See that?" Cainus pointed at a 'family moment' on the wall. Martin and Gilliard got up to get a better look at it. It showed two children on the living room couch. One was an infant covered in blankets, the other what they immediately recognized as a human child. It was Ruba Kala as a child, only a bit plumper in the cheeks and stomach. She was playing with the infant Cainus, who was giggling in her arms.

"They didn't understand human growth," Martin recalled. "The foreign connections only have real interest in Ruba because of her being human... and her teenage years led to growing... well... what she is now."

"You don't want to call her pretty because of the stuff she has on her face?" Cainus asked.

"No. I just can't associate 'pretty' with Tough Tigress and not expect her to jump in and strangle me."

"Hey, sis!" Cainus shouted, startling the human. "The shady guy doesn't think you're pretty because you got the personality of a murderer!"

"Tell him that's the third nicest thing he's told me yet!" Ruba shouted from the other side.

Cainus frowned at Martin. "The third _nicest _thing you told my sister?"

Martin shrugged.

"And you're still alive?"

"I'm aware that your sister has the potential to kill anyone. I'm already too disturbed by the fact she can strangle a beast with a neck as thick as Van Gogh's!" Martin raised his hand in dismissal.

"And that's why I'm surprised she still let you go without a scratch. She usually damages the guys who try to gain her."

"Gain her?" Gilliard asked. His eyes widened in realization and he burst into laughter. "You think Martin's hitting on her? Ha, ha! Imagining that a guy who's dating the girl your sister is trying to murder, would ditch and switch? I give ya points! YOU'RE KILLING ME! HA! HA! HA!"

Cainus gave a disturbed look at Martin. The latter merely sat down roughly and crossed his arms. As if it wasn't bad enough that his girlfriend, the daughter of his parents' enemies, was his enemy, but now Gilliard and Cainus were mocking him for a mere non-existing notion.

"Well it isn't my problem if Ruba decide to waste herself as a professional alien publicity with no dignity!" Martin snapped.

Cainus and Gilliard shut up.

And Ruba, who had heard everything from her room, found herself dropping on her knees.


	8. The Alien Royal Reception

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 8: The Alien Royal Reception

The advantage to being 'guests of a godly host' was that the humans managed to get to the royal palace thirty minutes before the monarch's guests actually did.

The room where the reception was to take place had the height of five Warmonga standing on top of each other (thank god there was only one and she's dead). The walls and ceiling were made of polished moonstones held by silver beams and pillars. Small silver statues of monarchs were dominated by huge moonstone statues of Violet's hosts, tables were lined up to form a large V while fancy chairs, silverware, plates, and cups were organized by servants based on the ranks of the expected guests. There was enough room at the center to make way for a dancing floor. For some reason, the servants were also placing holographic projections by the walls.

"Even if you're only temporary guests, you'll still be sitting based on social ranks," Coralus explained. He was now wearing a more formal dark robe with about thirteen different types of moonstone necklaces. "Due to their aristocratic status, the Fiskes will be sitting next to the visiting nobilities. Kim Possible with the ambassadors, the rest of you with the rest."

Kim Possible looked around. "Where's my husband?" She frowned.

"We got his head stuck in a barrel of Loyus' prohibited alcohol. He's sleeping the booze away."

"You got him _drunk?_" Kim Possible was horrified. "Ron dislikes over-doing alcohol! How did you even motivate him?"

"Who cares?" Coralus shrugged dismissively. "It's not like the other aliens at the dinner table will want to have him over. He's already disliked by 70% of you."

Kim Possible gasped in shock. Monkey Fist had the intention of punching the kid, but Will Du held him back.

"VIPER EYES IS HERE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Coralus screamed and ran to hide underneath one of the tables. He shook in terror until he saw a group of three alien boys, one of them being Vergilus, laughing their heads off.

"Very funny." Coralus got out of his hiding spot.

"You screamed like a little girl," the leader of the three teased Coralus. He appeared to be a twenty-year-old alien boy with navy blue and red hair massed into one flowing mullet. He didn't have the golden eyes that the Felindrax had. His were more of a dirty straw with snake pupils.

"The little girls on this planet don't scream," Coralus retorted flatly.

"Except when they face death. And you sure had the scream of a little girl facing unwanted death."

"Ugh! I hate you!" Coralus stormed off to the other side of the room.

Kim Possible giggled. "Thank you. He deserved that."

"Seriously, Mrs. Stoppable?" Will Du shook his head.

"Well he did just mock my husband!"

"He does that just so he can copy the typical Felindrax superiority." The blue-and-red haired alien shrugged. "Just tease him about the space vampire who nearly killed him when he was twelve and he'll shut up!"

"That's a bit mean," DNAmy pointed out.

"No, that's just Geni." Vergilus went to fill himself a cup of herbal tea from one of the servants' tables.

"Yes. I'm Geni. _Very _nice to meet you!" He plucked a hair strand from Shego's head.

"Ow! What's wrong with you?" She held out her hands, ready to throw plasma at him. She stopped, however, when her hair strand went through Geni's skin and she was now looking at a clone of herself in male clothing.

"You seriously lived in a tower shaped like the word 'Go'? That is _so _cartoony!" His hair then changed to his regular blue-and-red shade. "And seriously? Calling your foe names like 'Cupcake' and 'Pumpkin'? You had a way to insult people with flat areas."

Kim and Shego gasped at the remark.

"OMG! Another shapeshifter!" Camillo squealed and danced on the tip of his toes. "Only his are more evolved! He can access models' memories through DNA samples!" He stopped dancing and facepalmed himself. "Ugh! Now I'm underrated..."

"You shapeshift as well?" Geni witnessed Camillo changing his appearance to that of Loyus. His expression was a mix of impressed and unimpressed. "You realize that Loyus doesn't dress like that?"

"I know." Camillo morphed back to his normal appearance.

"I do like your hair style."

"Thank you."

"Ugh. Are you chaps done talking about your locks?" Killigan groaned. He yelped when Geni reached in to pluck one of the golfer's beard strands and earned himself a red-and-blue duplicate of Killigan's beard. "Ow! Will you stop plucking the hair of everyone you meet?"

"How else am I supposed to give myself diverse physical attributes down to their perfect details? How else am I supposed to make sure that I can imitate others' memories down to the exact detail, like that memory of lying to your daughter about the details of her missing mother. FYI to Killigan Junior, Mommy didn't die of childbirth, she just ditched him for a Dublin model."

Killigan gulped and looked at Buffy. Her eyes were fighting back tears and she stormed away.

"Buffy! I can explain!" Killigan ran after his daughter.

"Geni!" Vergilus scolded Geni. "We talked about this! You can't just walk around blabbing about people's personal life!"

"I get paid for it." Geni shrugged.

"Is that why you're here?" Kim Possible asked. "Ritus and Loyus pay you to sneak on the guests, pluck their hair, that way you can snitch to them about the guests' true plans?"

"Yep. Vergilus, our friend FITS..."

"FITS?" Kim Possible looked at the third alien boy, who looked like a robotic version of a seventeen-year-old boy.

"Friend In Tough Steel," Geni translated. "He, uh..." Geni grimaced in discomfort.

"_Got my physical body destroyed by an avalanche,_" FITS responded. "_Geni was able to remove my brain and heart from my body and store it into a robotic body_."

"So you shapeshift and know your way around robotics?" Will Du said.

"No, the robotics part was sheer dumb luck." Geni shrugged. "Have any of you seen Diamona or Flora?"

"They went to check on Ruba," Melgo said. "She was out of sorts when she left her house."

"Eesh. What happened?" Geni was sincerely concerned. "Did she overhear someone insult her through the door? Or did Cainus forget that he shares a bathroom with her?"

Nobody was paying attention to them, so Gilliard took the chance of shooting a glare at Martin.

"_The Felindrax guests are approaching_," FITS spoke. "_In ten minutes, the foreign guests will come._"

"Everyone in your positions!" Coralus clapped his hands. The servants moved around and the humans were ushered to their seats. As the Fiskes and Kim Possible sat down, they noted the chairs meant for the Felindrax superiors: extravagant silver chairs for the nobility, silver throne-sized chairs for the High Priest, his ward, and the monarch, and a massive moonstone throne perfectly carved to nearly resemble a blooming flower.

Finally, the alien guests came in. First came the Felindrax nobility: a mixture of all the genes, but the majority was still fully-cured or half-cured people accompanied by their third-cured servants. Only a few sat in their seats closest to the main three thrones, either out of suspicion towards the humans or because most of the seats were reserved for the foreign guests.

The latter finally entered. The humans saw a rainbow of alien superiors making their way to their seats. Dunia lords in draped ruby satin uniforms, the Oasia monarch in a tunic with patterns of seaweed and numerous corals around the wrists, Pelea nobility in dark brown uniforms and their fiery hair woven in thick braids, Batrishania leaders in dark robes, the Coraplastia monarch in a one-piece uniform and tiara made of a thousand jeweled flowers, and many others sat down next to the Fiskes and Kim Possible, surrounding them.

"Are you alright, madam?" the Coraplastia monarch asked Kim Possible with genuine concern. She seemed to have noticed the woman's skin paling.

"Yes," Kim Possible responded.

"You're a terrible liar." The monarch went through her uniform and pulled out a vial bearing something of warm colors. The Fiskes glared suspiciously as she uncorked the bottle and put it underneath Kim Possible's nose, but their expression toned down when they saw that Kim Possible was sighing in relief after inhaling the scent coming out of the bottle.

"Do you feel better?" the Coraplastia monarch asked as she put away the bottle. "Rose concoctions are our way of soothing pain. I keep one on me in case I might stress out."

"Thank you." Kim Possible nodded.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself." The monarch crossed her arms, similar to a mummy, and bowed her head. "I'm Sequoia, the monarch of Coraplastia."

"We figured, since you resemble Flora," Martin pointed out.

"Oh, you mean Ruba Kala's Coraplastia comrade." Sequoia and the humans briefly glanced at Flora, who was waiting with Diamona in front of a curtained staircase. "Yes, our kind shares the similar attributes. And I've seen the documented accomplishments of Flora. Due my planet's alliance with the Felindrax, I am permitted to be informed on the performances of my former people."

"Former people?" Kim Possible asked.

"Well yes. It's very frequent for Coraplastia girls to be summoned by Violet's birthmark... and for them to become permanent Felindrax civilians if they fail to please Violet. And even though Violet has already had a Coraplastia godly host in the 11th cycle, the numbers still increase. I still have to deal with little girls being negotiated out of my planet every year."

"Negotiated?" The Simian Witch asked. "Such as the manner that the Batrishania folk use to dispose of their runts?"

"Oh, no. Of course not." Sequoia shook her head. "Let's just say my planet has had a... history of some civilians being chosen as hosts, it has led some to develop an ego." Sequoia stared back at Flora, who was talking to Diamona. "We generally do not promote violence in my planet, but we are good traders with the Felindrax. I've seen too many Coraplastia parents eager to give away their daughters to the Felindrax, all because they were labeled for a potentially great destiny."

"Is that what happened to Flora?

Sequoia nodded.

Just then, the Oasia monarch sitting across from her whispered: "Caution. Here comes Warheart."

That's when everyone who wasn't human stayed dead silent and glared at the last monarch to come in. Kim Possible's eyes widened when she saw how much Warheart resembled Warmonga, except Warheart was male, his green hair was braided in dreadlocks tied in a ponytail, his uniform was a combination of military armor and regal robes. He also didn't have the same smug, bloodthirsty expression Warmonga had. He primarily kept his head down, as if to hide his embarrassment and to avoid the glares the other monarchs were throwing at him as he sat down in his chair, which stood close enough to the three main thrones.

"Is he the ruler of the Lorwardians?" Monkey Fist whispered.

"Yes. And the brother of Warmonga." Sequoia turned to Kim Possible. "I heard she and her husband attempted on your life until your husband saved you, and their son's recent scandal led to your daughter's disappearance. I'm terribly sorry."

Kim Possible nodded to fight back the tears.

"I don't get it. The Lorwardians who attacked us are actually royalty?" Monkey Fist frowned. "But I thought they were seeking to usurp..."

"They're... complicated. Besides, Lorwardian monarchy isn't necessarily hereditary. Unless the current monarch has an heir, the people vote on who will take the throne once the monarch dies. Warheart and Warmonga weren't born in royalty, but Warheart was among the candidates to replace the dying monarch back then and he was chosen. His first years as king were well, but it soured up a bit when his sister and brother-in-law had the scandal on it. There was a brief period of peace, but now he's in a bad state due to his nephew's actions. The other monarchs are now very suspicious of him and they're almost considering taking the Lorwadians' popular vote away so that the universal union will decide who to replace him."

"Doesn't he have an heir?"

"He does, but the child's a bastard. A Lorwardian child can only become a hereditary heir if he or she is born from wedlock. Warheart only has one child, a half-breed Lorwardian, and she's already among the Felindrax."

"Oh don't tell me." Martin choked. "Wardeth's cousin... _is Waremeralda?_"

"I know, right?" Sequoia chuckled. "Compared to her sadist cousin, she's unusually peppy."

"Who's Waremeralda?" Kim Possible asked. The Fiskes couldn't answer her due to their strangled-like expressions.

"There goes another group of people I've seen looking like they want to strangle themselves because they just found out the sole friendly Lorwardian among the Felindrax turns out to be related to some sadists," Sequoia sighed.

The lights in the room turned down. The guests silenced themselves while the light focused on the entertainers at the center. Geni held his hands up in clenched fists while Vergilus and FITS held up some moonstone censers unleashing small trails of purple smoke.

"Royalty, nobility, and celebrities from here and away, gratitude for joining us this evening has been brought to you by Felindrax monarch Ritus, High Priest Loyus, and her Superiority, the Guardian of Her Patron's Traditions, and the Priority Ruler of this Planet, Ruba Kala!" Geni announced. "They give great pleasure to offer the introduction performance to you!"

The guest applauded in a variety of pleased voices. The room finally darkened and the boys jumped in different locations. Vergilus and FISTS swung their censers to create various forms of smoke. Geni opened his fists and blew away some rainbow-colored glitter. It merged with the smoke to create living figurines telling a story to the awed audience.

Geni: _The universe is grand, there are only twelve gods_

_With powers that give or take_

_With egos that can destroy civilizations_

_It's frightening how we can be helpless!_

_Pure oceans, amorous lava,_

_Healing valleys, strong mountains, _

_And creatures with twisted minds._

_Eleven give and scare away_

_But one cares anyway_

_And is to us very kind!_

_She opened doors for us to explore and accept_

_While she asked for nothing in return._

_She said she wanted us to be free,_

_And after all the gratitude you've given me,_

_I'll go convince the others, it's now my turn._

_She tried to convince, but they wouldn't listen_

_Because our freedom didn't fit their norm._

_She was angry, and to defy all the odds,_

_She challenged her kind into a war._

_Oh, Violet_

_Goddess of frustration_

_It comes so often, it's such a passion_

_She makes so good._

_Oh, Violet_

_Goddess of storms_

_Who crushes her moon into million stones_

_Like how the gods crushed her._

_When everything died, she promised vengeance_

_To those whom she promised independence._

_Find the one with my birthmark, the star,_

_Whether she's from home or from afar._

_I want someone to carry me_

_Into her destiny_

_In exchange, I'll set her free._

_Oh, Violet_

_Goddess of frustration_

_She sends it in winds, it explodes in our hearts,_

_To our impressments._

_Oh, Violet_

_Goddess of tornadoes_

_She'll blow you away until you break apart_

_Just because she cares from the heart._

Geni's singing and the boy's 'censer dancing' performance ended just in time for the smoke to clear and for the main three hosts to appear. Almost everyone knocked their seats over to bow as Loyus and Ritus walked behind Ruba Kala, whose dress really hit her on the form and whose arms and neck were completely covered with fancy cuff bracelets and choker necklaces. Whether it was a wig or died, her brown hair was now lilac purple and tied in a bun, courtesy of a fancy hairpin holding up a long veil. The tables held numerous murmurs of admiration, fear, and jealousy.

Martin was probably the most blunt. "Cainus wasn't joking when he said he hated that dress," he whispered.

"This is ridiculous!" his mother agreed just as the trio sat down on their thrones and the servants began bringing the food. "They might as well mummify her!"

"Do they always do this to her?" Kim Possible discreetly asked Sequoia.

"Just with foreign visitors of high society. I have seen her in her army uniform and it's far more appealing than their vision of a godly host."

A third of the guests focused on savoring the fancy dishes, the second on admiring the boys continuing more censer dancing and Geni shapeshifting, and the last on lining up to have a word with Ruba. Most of them were the foreign monarchs, but Sequoia was more interested in having a conversation with the Fiskes and Kim Possible.

"So you're primary function on Earth is to dig out treasures from lost civilizations?" Sequoia was listening to Monkey Fist explaining his career in archaeology.

"I did also do a minor in veterinarian and paleontology studies at Oxford," Monkey Fist said. "You'd be surprised how many genus of prehistoric plants were fossilized."

"But these fossils... do they eventually just serve as displays to the public?"

"That, or some will go as far as to use the energy of fossils for oil." The Simian Witch shook her head.

"Such disrespect!" Sequoia shook her head. "In Coraplastia, should any remains of fossilized plant from previous cycles be discovered, they are immediately brought back to the temple of Juniper, the goddess of healing. She is our patron."

"Has she been found in a host yet?" Martin stopped eating his salad.

"We don't know yet." Sequoia shook her head. "With the schism between pro-Violet and anti-Violet fanatics, there are the godly hosts who make themselves known to the public while others hide away. It's a bit worse, however, when the gods have actually succeeded in reincarnating in their hosts."

"Iron succeeded in reincarnating in his human host, Helga Ottoski." Monkey Fist sighed. "She was known to have survived World War II as a child... but Iron ended her life and managed to pose all these years as if she had aged like a normal person."

Sequoia shuddered at the image. "And I thought it was worse for Canary. Good thing it's not the same with Cedar."

The humans stared at her. "Excuse me?" Martin choked.

"What? Ruba didn't tell you that she had an encounter with them?" They shook their heads, so Sequoia explained. "Three months after Ruba Kala was chosen by Violet, there was a crisis in Coraplastia in which some of my people were turning ill, their skins turning yellow and their suffering mouths twisted into smiles. Knowing their motto of mandatory happiness, the ambassadors of Edenia were accused by local civilians of forcing Coraplastia folks into joining them. I didn't want a risk of fractured trades with the monarch of Edenia, so I called upon Ruba Kala's squad to investigate. She ended up finding out that the ambassadors weren't behind the fever, but... one of the half-Coraplastia, half-Edenia employees working at the embassy was actually the god Canary in disguise."

"He was attempting... to force joy in your planet?" Kim Possible cringed.

"Ruba Kala succeeded in banishing him from my planet and curing my people, but the event had shocked her. From what I heard, Canary had brainwashed her friends into forced-smiling puppets who were 'more than happy to happily beat her'." Sequoia motioned her head to the dancing boys. "Had it not been for them, she'd have lost."

"Geni and his friends?" Martin asked.

"Yes. I'm not exactly sure what Geni's species is... He constantly changes his appearance, his gender, his memories, his DNA... Vergilus suffered from an ultraviolet incident, and the robotic one still had his body at the time, but he still had his insufferable intellect. I guess these chaotic abominations had enough strength to push away Canary's joyful brainwashing."

They briefly eyed at the boys in question. The boys were still entertaining the guests, with Vergilus and FITS moving the censers to form rings of colorful smoke around Geni, who kept changing his appearance at every jump he took. One second, he had massive blond hair and it became shorter and darker than night the next. Numerous seconds, he varied from a handsome male to a grotesque female, a creepy crawler to a deity. His skin was smooth and one colored, then as scaled as a chameleon's.

"As for Cedar, I don't know much about the details of their encounter, only that she's the only goddess who hasn't engaged in deadly combat with Ruba. It seems like she has decided to side with Violet for this cycle."

"They aren't always allies?" Kim Possible asked.

"Most of the gods never necessarily keep their relationships. My own planet's patron constantly varies between siding with Royal in one cycle and then Violet in the next." Sequoia shuddered. "And don't get me started with Crimson. That so-called love expert can't even make up her own mind between staying loyal to her husband or just abandoning him for Violet!"

Martin bit his lips.

"I see she's not your favorite," Kim Possible guessed.

"Nobody in Coraplastia or any planet that respects Juniper likes Crimson. The goddess of healing's perspective tended to clash with that of the goddess of love. Do not get me wrong, we know how to love, but Crimson's methods are incorrect."

"Because she's cheated on her husband?" Martin began to feel sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Well, that. And also because she's chaotic on her approaches of love. Romantic, family, platonic, materialistic, friendship... When she does 'teach' mortals the point of true love or the importance of family, friends, and appreciating the things you possess, Crimson will bring love to its obsessive traits. Lust that can drive mortals to stalk others in unhealthy measures, insane love for power, money, resources, or trophies, a terrible love for control."

"Basically, universal love can be dangerous," Monkey Fist nodded. "I can relate. I used to have a stalker."

"It's only dangerous when poorly administered." Sequoia shook her head. "I really hate it when traffickers from Crimson-worshipping planets sneak in Coraplastia to steal flowers with powerful hormonal effects for their aphrodisiacs... and the attempts of some idiots to drug Ruba Kala with them..."

"You can't be serious." Kim Possible shook her head.

"Ruba has some stalkers?" Martin asked.

"Well of course. Look at her." The monarch of Sequoia motioned to Ruba, who was looking as stoic as a statue as Warheart begged on his knees before her, clearly asking her in an alien dialect for forgiveness. At the same time, some guests were beginning to demand their personal servants to bring their numerous gifts to Ruba. Loyus had Coralus pretty much take creepy steps around the presidents, determining which presents to discard and which to present before Ruba.

"Her beauty has struck many aliens once she was a teenager long before Violet chose her. Now that she's a godly host of Violet, and the longest to survive yet, her suitors have doubled. Of course, Ruba's no longer eighteen, the age of marriage for the Felindrax, so her main suitors are foreigners. She's refused every single one, so some have leaned towards desperate measures through gifts spiked by aphrodisiacs. But Loyus' ward Coralus can tell in forehand if their spiked or not."

"LEAVE THIS COURT!" Coralus threw a present at one of the guests and threw some plates at him, leading to him and his servants fleeing the palace.

"Like that." Sequoia shrugged.

"I bet you six mags that he's going to hit another dunce," the monarch sitting two seats away from Sequoia chuckled.

"Twelve junes if he chases all of them out." Sequoia tempted.

"Deal!"

Coralus just eyed at the remaining line before then screaming. "GET OUT!"

The majority of the guests ended up watching as Coralus chased away the dunces to the point that he picked up a six-foot-tall vase of flowers and threw it at them. "GET OUT! AND EXPECT A SERIOUS LAWSUIT FROM US FOR YOUR PRIMITIVE AND DISRESPECTFUL ATTEMPT TO DRUG OUR GODLY HOST!" All the guests that seemed of an age close enough to Ruba's scrammed, leaving the humans and the adult guests speechless. Sequoia snickered as she collected her money won from her bet while the monarchs of parental age sighed in disbelief.

"And this is why I never bring you anything whenever I get the rare chance of being invited by Your Greatness," Warheart commented to Ruba in his humblest, yet dry tone. "I dread that material gifts would just be an excuse to gain your confidence. Not to mention that I can generally never afford it."

"Your decency that some of the other guests lack is fine," Ruba replied.

"I'm still placing double of the money Wardeth owed you into your bank account," Warheart quickly said.

"Naturally." Ruba nodded. "You put yourself through a lot of embarrassing effort to fix the mistakes of your planet's wrongdoers. Perhaps we could atone by reserving you a seat at the Testing Arena for tomorrow."

"Uh, you do mean an actual seat at the bleachers, right?" It almost seemed like Warheart dreaded the possibility of being thrown in the arena at the mercy of a bunch of military-trained sixteen-year-olds.

"Warheart, I'm human, not a savage. I just thought you'd want to help out your people's image... and maybe give some moral support to the candidates."

"Is she offering him to come to the arena tomorrow because Waremeralda is being tested?" Monkey Fist asked.

"I have no idea. I'm leaving for Coraplastia tomorrow morning." Sequoia shrugged. "Then again, considering what I heard, the Felindrax don't include many children born of alien royalty in their society... unless you include the ones that are wed into the monarchy. But Ritus and Ruba have tried to pull some strings to make sure Warheart sees a bit of his bastard. She's not allowed on Lorwadia for matters outside of missions, a general rule to all the Felindrax women, so discreet visits are organized."

"I still find this whole thing unfair." Martin said bluntly. "Nobody sees a problem in abducting children and forcing them into a strange society, they poorly treat the ones they deem inferior, and people are being treated as if they were merchandise or publicity! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THIS SOCIETY IS DYSFUNCTIONAL, OR THEY JUST FIND IT AMUSING TO KEEP EVERYONE AT THE END OF LEASHES?"

Martin had spoken so loudly that he'd caught everyone's attention. He just got off his chair and stormed out. None of the guards got in his way, since he wasn't aggressing anyone and he was having an emotional crisis.

_Later_

Martin easily found his way by taking the hover rail to the Tenth Neighborhood and into Ruba's house. He completely ignored Van Gogh, who was relaxing on his cushion, and forced himself on the couch.

Just how messed up were these alien societies? Martin didn't want to image that this how they so-called 'forced themselves to evolve' and who knows if this could happen to humans. He didn't want to imagine the treatment Ruba endured.

_Is this what it would have been like if Ronilda or I got her treatment? _He hoped not. Ronilda had been unstable from her claustrophobic childhood and couldn't even control her powers. He still had nightmares on how she willingly gave up and surrendered herself to the vortex. As for Martin, he was always told that harnessing Mystical Monkey Power and taking over the world would be his future, but after seeing the crap Ruba put herself into, he knew it wasn't worth it.

_But then what is my purpose? If everything I thought in no longer makes sense, then what am I good for?_

Just as he grabbed a pillow to hug, the front door opened. Martin sat up, expecting either his parents or Ruba to criticize him, but instead it was a man, younger than Marblus but slightly older than Monkey Fist. He had most of the Felindrax traits, but due to his wave-like ocean blue hair tied up behind, he knew immediately that it was another half-cured of Oasia descent. His purple lab coat was wrinkled as if he had been in a rush to put it on.

Just then, the man answered his beeping tablet. "Sharia?"

"_Diagnus, one of our human guests ran off in a fit and his parents are worried,"_ Sharia's voice spoke over the tablet.

"Dark-haired, a bit broody, and in Abelus' old clothes?" Diagnus randomly asked without even looking up his tablet.

"_Yes."_

"He's in the living room."

"_Oh, phew!_" Sharia sounded relieved. "_Work caught up? You missed most of the reception."_

"I know, honey, but there was an emergency in the Eighth neighborhood. A pregnant patient needed a C-Section for her quadruplets. It took me almost two hours to get the boys out individually. Then the stitching took an hour."

Martin covered his mouth to avoid throwing up.

"_You really helped her out, my love. I'm sure Ruba will understand._"

"By the way, let her know that I managed to work things out with Coralus so that she can see Abelus when he comes over for breakfast."

"_Oh, she'll love that! She hasn't seen her older brother in months!" _

"Of course. See you in a bit." Diagnus turned off his tablet and stared directly at Martin.

"Uh... How exactly did you know I was here?" Martin hesitated.

"I've raised three children, each with a weird habit to go sulking in the couch expecting me to help them fix their problems." Diagnus shrugged.

"Did any of them deal with some sort of existential crisis?"

"All the time." Diagnus sat down on the nearest armchair. "My first son Abelus was so worried about his purpose in science, Ruba constantly worried about fitting in and surpassing her classmates, and Cainus is currently struggling in school. What's your issue?"

"I no longer know." Martin shook his head. "I just..." He hugged a nearby pillow. "I thought I knew my purpose, but it turns out I don't, so I don't know if I'm useful or not. I thought I could keep someone I loved, but she might eventually slip through my fingers. Also, you aliens have a very dysfunctional society in my perspective and it's revolting how your daughter is being treated like some object." He looked at Diagnus. "Does that make any sense?"

Diagnus looked at Martin sympathetically. "Sit upright. I'm going to tell you a story."

Martin did as he was told.

"Many years ago, I got to be betrothed to a girl I really loved. We were married and our lives got better when parenthood came along. We had our first son and he grew up to be a nice lad. When he was seven, my wife was expecting another son. Our family was happy but had a sour taste, because the half-cured Felindrax father was unable to give the Dunia mother the chance to bear a daughter. And though she was expecting a second son, the mother really wanted a girl with whom she could relate, but everytime she went to see what the scavengers have collected, she came back unhappy.

"Eventually, a good time before the second son came, the father got a call at work from his wife. She said she had seen a girl the scavengers had just collected and she wanted him to come see the child as soon as possible. He went to join her and see the little girl she was interested in, and he was surprised to see that the child wasn't like the others. It was a human child, a species we had ignored until her birthmark was detected. At first, I wasn't sure why my wife wanted the human, but after some minutes, I felt it as well. The child wasn't being treated properly: she was still scared and she needed nurturing compared to the rough approaches of others.

"The girl joined the family, and when the second son came, the family was complete and they spent the next years in happiness. The parents did everything to make sure their children grew in a perfect environment. Then the two oldest children went on into their career life: the first son became an apprentice, later a professional in geology, and the daughter was chosen by our goddess. The parents were proud, but they dreaded their daughter's destiny. They knew that she had worked hard and that if she ever succeeded in her destiny, she'd want to leave back to her home world, yet she internally struggled due to her devotion to this family. As the years went on, the daughter still hadn't accomplished her destiny, the leaders began to weigh down their expectations, her amount of enemies increased, and her health worsened. And now the parents really hate that Violet chose their daughter."

As the story ended, Diagnus lost his sympathetic expression.

Martin also had a hard time believing. Compared to the other aliens, he could understand Diagnus' perspectives, but at the same time he couldn't believe that now Diagnus wished Ruba were never given such an opportunity. All because he didn't want to lose a child that wasn't even his.

_Well they did want a daughter despite their labor problem and they immediately wanted Ruba_, Martin thought. _They spent fourteen years raising her and loving her. I wouldn't be surprised if Diagnus wanted to see her get a career, get married, and eventually have kids. The basic dream of any parent._ It also reminded Martin of how his mother had insisted he got himself a girlfriend and how he immediately grew some weird desire for Ronilda the moment she insulted him. Perhaps it was a common thing for people to develop obsessions on godly hosts?

"Most of my thoughts are cleared up," he said.

"Good." Diagnus nodded. He checked the digital clock. "You might want to go get some rest. It's very likely Ruba will drag you around to keep an eye on you tomorrow."

"She doesn't have to," Martin said as he got up and Diagnus escorted him upstairs. "I'm sure she'll already be stressed out with her duties."

"How thoughtful." Diagnus smiled. "But Felindrax don't let their guests roam around unsupervised. Your father will be accompanying me during my duties, my son Cainus could use your fish friend or your mother as tutors, and frankly, after fourteen years of being away from Earth, Ruba really needs human interaction and perspectives."

"What about your wife?"

"She's already going to have to suffer by leashing around Kim Possible while the latter performs community service as her teacher's assistant."

Martin wanted to laugh out loud at the idea of Kim Possible, currently criticized for her poor parental skills, being ridiculed by the tough-love mother that Sharia was. Thinking of that then reminded Martin of something else.

"Since you'll be with my father, do you think you could give him some advice? He's failed to reach common sense to Ron Stoppable."

Diagnus stopped walking and looked blankly at Martin. "Did he actually think talking to him would work? Boy, parental advice chats is one thing. Parental advice chats between archenemies? You might as well have Warhok and Warmonga trapped in the same room as Ron Stoppable."

Martin recalled when his father mentioned Ron Stoppable shooting him with blasts when the former tried to reason with him. Now he could only picture Ron Stoppable turning blue and throwing Monkey Fist into some sort of exploding spaceship.

This trip was really going to be long.


	9. Ron Stoppable

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 9: Ron Stoppable

Monkey Fist knew that he was in some kind of nightmare. He had come back from the reception, checked on his son, and went to bed with his wife. When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in bed in the guest room.

He saw himself in what looked like a ruined Middleton. There wasn't a single building that wasn't ruined, the streets were cracked as if an earthquake recently came, and blue flames engulfed the city. Monkey Fist's eyes widened in horror. His first instinct was that he was in some sort of apocalypse, that either Ron Stoppable or Ronilda had destroyed their hometown.

_I need to see if they're alive_. Monkey Fist ran towards the city, but as he ran, the ground underneath him opened up. He screamed as he fell into some blue-lit underworld of emptiness.

"Dude! Get me out of here!"

He recognized that voice. Monkey Fist never imagined being so relieved to hear that voice again.

"Stoppable?"

"Seriously! Will somebody get me out of here?"

Monkey Fist ran towards the voice. He didn't know why he actually cared, but he ran as fast as he could. Who knew what Ron Stoppable was enduring?

"Release me now or face my wrath! Booyah HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Monkey Fist froze just before he could fall down some strange spiral staircase of glass. He heard the dangling sound of chains and looked up. Like crystal chandeliers, two giant balls of crystal hung from the invisible ceiling. In one of them, he saw his old enemy: Ron Stoppable in his younger years, still cowardly, still goofy, and still with no proper sense of style, considering his red sports jersey.

"Stoppable!" Monkey Fist called out.

"Somebody get me out of here!" Stoppable continued to yell from inside his crystal ball cage.

_What's going on? Does he not hear me?_

"Give it a break, you wimp!"

Monkey Fist looked at the second ball. He couldn't believe it, but he saw a doppelganger of Ron Stoppable, one in blue skin à la Drakken, a strange black supervillain uniform, and a strange Eastern European accent. There was also something strange in Ron's tone, as if enjoyed being rude and cruel.

_The good and evil sides of Stoppable_, Monkey Fist realized. "He didn't just use the Attitudinator to split his personality in half, he also sealed it in the back of his mind. Oh no," he finally realized it, "I'm in Stoppable's head."

_But how is that even possible?_

A string of clear light appeared and he heard somebody step in. Monkey Fist hid behind a glass statue of a naked mole rat and spied as the present Ron Stoppable appeared fully in the room and glared at his copies trapped in the crystals.

"Let us out!" the teenage Ron complained. "I haven't had a naco in years!"

"Forget him! Release me first!" the evil Ron demanded. "I still need to take over the world!"

"What? So I can be my old self? A child with foolish weaknesses?" the present Ron glared at his younger self. "An over-competent megalomaniac with atrocious flaws?" He glared at his supervillain self. "I do not need any of you to once again trap me in your morality crutches. Those idiots honestly believe that I'd change out of my personal traumas."

This sparked Monkey Fist's attention.

"My greatest mistake, second to letting my wife separate me from my child, was blinding myself. Too many years, I've allowed myself to be under other's shadows, a boy with a constantly forgotten name. A fool who couldn't even bother to think clearly on the gifts he had. A buffoon trapped in childish fears. The first two times the Attitudinator changed me against my own accord, I turned into a villain with unstoppable success. It wasn't enough to lure me into evil permanently, but as I got older, I realized I needed a statement.

"I needed you two chained, so I could finally be what I really am. And look where it's gotten me in the last fourteen years..." He paused. "Why are you here?"

He waved his hand at the glass staircase. Rumbling climbed its way up, shattering the staircase, and prompting Monkey Fist to jump out of the way before he could get crushed as the rumbling destroyed the statue.

"Where are you?" Stoppable asked in a deadly tone. "I do not see you or hear you, but I can sense a presence here."

Monkey Fist made a run for it. Ron Stoppable must have picked up where the 'presence' was heading because glass shards began sprouting out in an attempt to impale.

"Stoppable! Wait!" Monkey Fist tried to reason with him. Massive chunks of crystals surrounded Monkey Fist, trapping him in a cube of crystal mirrors. Ron Stoppable's surface was on every single one of them: current Ron, high school Ron, evil Ron, Yamanouchi Ron, mission Ron, and Ron glowing in his Ultimate form.

"GET OUT!" They all shouted at him.

"Monty!"

Just as the crystal mirrors broke around him, Monty woke up. His skin was overwhelmed with sweat as Silvia used the bed sheet to dry them away.

"Darling?" Silvia asked.

"Oh!" Monty sighed in relief.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Silvia. I just had a bad dream..." He lied back down on the mattress. "Go back to sleep."

She looked at him in suspicion, but gave in. As she went back to sleep, she made sure to hug her husband close to her heart.

It took him a good while for him to go back to sleep.

_Finally morning time_

Monkey Fist and the Simian Witch were already downstairs. Ruba's older brother had yet to come for breakfast and the kids upstairs were dealing with the line for the bathroom. While Marblus continued preparing breakfast and the house's masters were having a talk upstairs, Monkey Fist explained his nightmare to his wife.

"I think he's been suppressing his moralities for a purpose other than losing Ronilda," he said. "I think he might have... gotten a taste of being power-hungry."

A buzzing sound came, probably some kind of doorbell, considering how Marblus went for the front door. The Fiskes grimaced when they saw that it was none other than Coralus. And he was already established as creepy.

"Hello, Marblus. I'll make my appearance scarce, but I must make sure that things go according to schedule," Coralus politely told Marblus, who let him in. Coralus pulled out a pair of sandals and put his bare feet in them before he could walk further in the house. "It did ensure with Diagnus that Ruba would have enough time to spend with her brother at breakfast, but you can imagine the other strings I had to pull."

Marblus gave him a puzzled look.

"Well the inauguration of the Divine Botanical Gardens was supposed to be held in her presence, but I had to rearrange it so that Flora could substitute Ruba, as she is one of Ruba's second-in-command. Then there's the test of the sixteen-year-olds for the spaceship commanding careers and I had to squeeze in the lunch she and Ritus are supposed to have with Warheart, so don't be surprised if during the test, you find her having a conversation with the monarchs in the VIP booth. Then there's the marriage in this neighborhood that she must minister, but because the visit at the fourth neighborhood hospital occurs at the same time, I had Diamona substitute her for the hospital event. Then there's the meeting with the architects for the future thirteenth neighborhood, so I had to cancel her visit to the primary education classrooms. She was supposed to have tea with the Dunia lords and have dinner with the remaining monarchs, but I convinced Loyus and Ritus to merge the two parties together, thus creating a bigger teatime and giving her the chance to have dinner with her family, and hopefully get to bed by at most the ninth or tenth hour in the evening."

Marblus gave some sort of hand gesture at Coralus, probably the way Felindrax replace thumbs-up. As the mute housekeeper went back to his cooking, Coralus made his way to a corner facing Van Gogh's cushion and cuddled himself in a Lotus position while he focused his eyes on the tablet that he was tapping. Monkey Fist frowned when he noticed Coralus' behavior. The teenager was already set out to inherit Loyus' position and pretty much acted like Ruba's efficient assistant, yet he acted like his 'probabilities' were obvious, freaked out at the mention of some 'space vampire who tried to kill him', threw objects at poorly ambitious guests, and literally made his appearance scarce by hiding in a corner the way a child would want to hide from a parent seeking to punish him. Not to mention that even though Coralus was concentrating on his tablet, he had an unusual spaced out expression on his face.

When the doorbell rang, Coralus didn't even budge. Diagnus beat Marblus to the front door and opened it. The first to come in was Abelus, Ruba's older brother. He clearly looked like an older version of Cainus, only he had Diagnus' blue hair, his chin possessed a small beard, and his work uniform suggested that he was ready to go digging.

"Traffic wasn't too bad?" Diagnus asked his son while he helped him bring in the hover strollers of Abelus' infant twin sons.

"No, it was fine. Are Ruba and Cainus still upstairs?"

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Where's Auntie Ruba?" Some seven-year-old girl agitated herself in her mother's grip.

"Laterita, behave!" Abelus' wife scolded Laterita. "Properly greet your grandfather!"

"Hi, Grandpa!" Laterita told Diagnus. "How are you? Is Auntie Ruba here?"

Abelus and his wife groaned in frustration. The Fiske couple, on the other hand, could only imagine that Cainus wasn't the kid's favorite uncle, considering she favored her non-biological aunt.

Cainus came down and Laterita barely batted an eye. "Where's Auntie Ruba?" she asked.

"Yes, hello to you as well," Cainus snarked.

"Laterita!" Abelus chided. "Sit down and behave!" The child made a whining sound and went to sit at the table. "I'm so sorry, Cai. Laterita is incorrigible."

"It's OK." They shared a fist-bump. "By the way, these are Monty Fiske and Silvia Winterfields." Cainus gestured at the Fiske couple. "They're the humans temporarily staying."

Oddly enough, the introductions weren't as awkward than the ones from before. "So you're the ones who went after Crimson's power?" Abelus asked.

"We weren't aware," Monkey Fist said in defense.

"I know. But I was mainly curious as to know how the fragment of her essence managed to survive in ordinary minerals. Did it stay fused in sandstone as your planet continued to evolve or did your ancestors just find it in a bottle and infuse a jade rock with it?"

This is what the next twenty minutes ended up being: Abelus and the Fiskes talking, Ruba pampering her niece, and everyone having breakfast.

_Later in the morning_

Around the time when Waremeralda had to pass her tests with the other candidates of her age, Melgo and Buffy were spying on the temple.

Since the Felindrax didn't mistrust the Lipsky and Killigan families the way they mistrusted the Stoppable family, Melgo and Buffy were able to move freely. They primarily moved around the heart of the city, trying to find clues that could suggest how to get into the temple. Because clearly, with all their duties and their weird personalities, there was no way that Loyus and Coralus would make saving RJ a priority.

"There are no guards, no security…" Buffy stuffed her binoculars in her coat. "And the wall is ridiculously high."

"Well we gotta find a way in." Melgo crossed her arms.

"Are you sure it's a smart idea, lass? Last thing we need is to get all Temple Run if the Felindrax catch us snooping."

"Hey, guys."

Melgo and Buffy jumped, thinking a guard had overheard them, but instead they saw Vergilus carrying a bag of freshly picked grass. "I apologize for scaring you. I'm collecting some fresh grass for our special herbal masks at the Entertainment Emporium."

"Ooh, remind me to check that out." Melgo looked interested.

"And if you're interested in finding a way to cure your friend, you might want to check the priests' houses rather than the temple."

His response startled the human girls.

"Well when you think about it, for evolved species venerating long-living abstract beings, do you honestly think that any decent worshipper would load a divine temple with treasures and a hidden archive? All these being items that could be valuable to any thief who was crazy enough to successfully break through the temple's magical security that will attack anyone who isn't the god's host?" In less than five minutes, Vergilus had managed to insult the ancient human nitwits who got vandalized by tomb robbers and gravediggers.

"How do you know all this?" Melgo frowned suspiciously at Vergilus.

He shrugged. "Geni has a criminal record for breaking into a temple system. Public version of the story, he assaulted an entire room of priestesses-in-training. Real version, he robbed some books from the high priests and now he's a wanted criminal in every single planet that worships Crimson."

"I see."

"But this is great!" Buffy jumped on his feet. "Why don't we just go see Geni and ask him if we check his book? Maybe we could come over after the Emporium's closing hours."

"Sounds like a good plan, but you'd still need at least _one _book belonging to a Felindrax priest. If you're going to find a way to save your friend, you need to make sure that the exit clause you use is legit. Not all priests write the same stuff because of the different personal beliefs."

"Who lives the nearest?" Melgo asked.

"Loyus and Coralus. It would be convenient timing since he's busy at the moment…"

The girls shrugged and Vergilus guided them to Loyus' house. Vergilus didn't joke when he said that the High Priest and his ward lived nearby: their house was literally two streets away from the temple, in the first neighborhood. The area was really a mess. Just like the holographic tour guide had mentioned, the buildings were composed of twelve different mineral layers to reflect the cycles of apocalypses the neighborhood had to endure. Nobody had bothered to install any gardens, plants, or fountains for outdoor decorations and the ground was cracked. There were no signs of anyone living here unless you considered the distant gunshots and yelling to represent a resident.

They finally approached Loyus' house. Either it was a pathetic family house passed on for generations or Loyus preferred living in an alien shack, but his one-story house was made entirely of dried moonstones, Melgo and Buffy almost mistook it for a giant dried out plum. The only outdoor decoration the shack had was some sort of abstract statue made from merged alcohol bottles. Somebody had spray-painted on the nearest neighboring wall an arrow at the statue with the purple words YE DESPAIRED DRUNKARD.

"The High Priests usually get to live anywhere they want in the city," Vergilus said. "Loyus just lost hope faster than it took Violet to reject a winner."

"Do timeshares exist for the Felindrax?" Melgo asked.

"They do. But Loyus doesn't do vacations."

As predicted, the shack had no security, not even a DNA scanning lock. All Vergilus had to do was open the front door and he and the girls stepped in. The inside wasn't as pathetic as the outside but still depressing. The room they were in was composed of a clean kitchen, a small table meant to feed only two or three people, and some couches and chairs to make a living room. There were only three other doors, each labeled by a description.

**Bathroom –To Release the Booze**

**Guest Room- To Sleep the Booze**

**Vault Room- To Sleep and Contemplate on Failures**

"I'm actually beginning to feel sorry for him," Melgo said as she patted the dining table.

"Where does Coralus sleep if Loyus sleeps in his vault?" Buffy asked.

Vergilus pointed at the door leading to the guest room. A sound of snoring came from the other side. The door wasn't even locked, so the teens managed to get in. Oddly enough, the guest room looked better than what they've seen so far: a nice big bed, walls with mosaic portraits of the previous High Priests, a purple curtain covering the window, and a moonstone chandelier hanging from the ceiling. To the girls' relief, they finally saw a physical book on a desk rather than the tablets the aliens used. But what really got their attention was the person snoring in his sleep. Curled up on the mattress and chained to the bedposts was Ron Stoppable.

"How much did they make him drink?" Melgo gasped.

Vergilus cautiously sneaked in front of Ron Stoppable and sniffed. He backed away in disgust. "Probably the entirety of the stock Loyus had initially set aside to last him another 50 years."

"_What?_" Melgo took off her glove and pressed it on his forehead, only to let go when her hand started burning and it left a blue mark. "They're purposely making him sick! That amount of alcohol could kill him!"

"Perhaps for human standards," Vergilus pointed out. "Then again, he does have a portion of Royal in him."

"You think his Mystical Monkey Power keeps him alive?"

"Alive, yes. But not enough to keep him from getting seriously sick. It takes a serious dose of something to injure or sicken someone empowered by a god's essence. For instance, Ruba can survive getting a blade on her rib cage or breathing in outer space without needing a mask. But it took getting buried by a massive avalanche for her to get a first strike."

"Or when she jumped in lava… And when RJ was being brainwashed by Wardeth to use her powers, all it took was some taser to knock her out and she got a fever!"

Stoppable continued to snore.

"I'd give him a couple of days to sleep off the booze…" Vergilus grimaced. "A week at the worst."

"Is this even legal?" Buffy asked. "I mean, can the High Priest actually intoxicate someone like what he's doing right now?"

"Have you not seen the way Ruba pretty much treats him like a doormat?" Vergilus pointed out. "Besides, the High Priest is not allowed to execute others. Only Violet's hosts have the right to publically execute someone, and even if he's being forbidden on consuming it…"

"Forget it." Melgo scowled. "I have a good idea."

_Later… _

The tests were done. Emerald had managed to make it to third place, scoring herself a career in military spaceship captain.

"Now what?" Coralus said meekly as he, Ruba, and Martin made their way out of the arena. They had to head to the hover rail and go to the fourth neighborhood for the wedding ceremony Ruba was supposed to minister.

"What do you mean?" Ruba asked.

"Now what to I do to congratulate Emerald for passing her tests?" Coralus began to freak out. "I had no idea of how she'd pass, how was I to know what kind of present to give her."

Ruba snickered. "The one who is capable of predicting probable futures… couldn't predict how Waremeralda would pass her tests? Poor Cory…"

"I thought we agreed that you'd stop calling Cory." He grimaced.

"I agreed to do it only when you aren't pathetic. And right now, you're being pathetic."

"I'm having a hard time following." Martin still couldn't believe it as they approached the station. "You have a crush on Emerald?" He frowned at Coralus.

"Obviously!" Coralus exclaimed. "What did you think I am? One of Ruba's lunatic suitors?"

"Clearly." Ruba snorted. "I've seen crazy aliens ready to destroy an army just to ask _me _on a date, but you, the next High Priest and only one capable of creeping out the soldiers, quiver your knees and can't even give Emerald a nice flower with shying away."

"I wouldn't blame him. She's rather tall."

Coralus gasped in shock. "_I beg your pardon!_ Waremeralda happens to be a very kind-hearted girl with a great morality as big as her brute strength!" He sighed in an amorous tone. "Her eyes shine brighter than Dunia rubies and her constant hair dying reminds me of the various color swaps of nebulas…"

Martin held his hand over his mouth to avoid throwing up. For some reason, seeing a creepy guy like Coralus fawning over a peppy person like Waremeralda reminded him of the times when he and Monkey Fist would throw up over the repetitive stories of DNAmy crushing on Monkey Fist. They couldn't even image the horrors if the situation was switched.

The hover rail finally arrived. The moment it stopped at the station, the trio was stunned to see that Melgo and Buffy, escorted by Vergilus, were the first ones to get out and approach them. Melgo and Buffy looked beyond the mere definition of rage as they shot murderous glares at Coralus.

"I see you broke into Loyus' house," Coralus spoke indifferently.

"What's going on?" Martin asked.

"_He _purposely went overboard!" Melgo pointed her middle finger at Coralus. "You didn't just get Ron Stoppable drunk to knock him out!"

"If it weren't for his MMP, you could have killed him! He's insanely sick and you got him chained!" Buffy added.

"What?" Martin looked at Coralus. "You actually did that?"

"So what?" Coralus shrugged. "He'll live."

"How can you say that? It's almost as if you don't care that you practically poisoned him!"

"The same way I don't particularly care that he's your girlfriend's dad. He's just another bearer of Royal's essence…"

"Coralus." The young man looked at Ruba when she called his name. The disappointed expression she gave him made him lose his indifference. "Normally, I approve your basics of staying neutral and having people served as they should be, but this is not one of those moments." Ruba crossed her arms.

"My apologies." Coralus lowered his head shamefully.

"We'll talk at the temple. In the meantime, escort Ron Stoppable to my house and notify my dad that he needs medical help."

"Of course." Coralus got onto the hover rail and left.

Vergilus raised his hand to say something, only to be stopped by Ruba gesturing him to leave. He sighed and led the girls away.

"Are you alright?" Martin asked when Ruba took some deep breaths.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"Well, you maturely expressed your disappointment at Coralus. You handle your frustration very well."

Ruba exhaled a deep breath one last time. "Frustration isn't a luxury I ought to have at every second. And I already don't like it when I have to be severe on Coralus even when he acts poorly."

"Because you think he's good at his job?"

Ruba glared at him. "Because he's already suffered enough. He had a traumatic experience when I first met him four years ago. He's been desperate to prove his gratitude to me by overdoing his work as Violet's future High Priest. The self-inflicted pressure is not doing wonders with his health and I can relate."

Martin nodded. The next hover rail came in; despite the situation, Ruba was still required to attend her formal duties.

"You think your father will be able to fix Mr. Stoppable?" Martin asked.

"My father's the best." Ruba shrugged confidently. "He can cure anyone."

_Later_

"What do you mean, you can't cure him?"

Ruba and Martin had come back to Ruba's house around dinnertime. They immediately went for the personal infirmary Diagnus had in the basement; Stoppable was still unconscious on the operating table, the Fiskes and Gilliard looked worried, and Kim Possible looked like she wanted to strangle Coralus.

"Daddy, do you how you're the best doctor I've known my whole life?" Ruba put on a sugary smile on her face.

"For physical issues, Ruba," Diagnus pointed out. "I did everything. I extracted the alcohol, I sanitized his cells, I added oxygen to his muscles, and I even removed all of his glucose. Do you have ANY IDEA of how ridiculous the amount of his glucose is?"

Monkey Fist and the Simian Witch stared at each other, recalling the times when they heard through gossip that Team Possible often spent their time at Bueno Nacho. Around the time they started preparing for the trip to outer space, Shego had told Silvia that Ron Stoppable must have started off his fortune when his naco creation led to millions of dollars in royalties. The Fiskes were also baffled during a HenchCo auction that Team Possible had crashed and there wasn't a single villain who wasn't worried when they saw a fattened Ron Stoppable. All because he decided to eat only Bueno Nacho.

"_You really need to start taking better care of yourself,"_ Monkey Fist had told Stoppable.

"_Are you even aware of the numerous health issues you'll get?_" The Simian Witch had exclaimed. "_You could get a heart failure, diabetes, or worse, have no children!_"

"Ugh! I knew I should destroyed his supplies when I had the chance!" Ruba clenched her fists.

"Physically-wise, I managed to cure him, but I'm afraid that past the fiftieth cup Coralus offered him, the human willingly went crazy and drank his emotions away. To conclude on a mental basis, he's very much in an undecided deadline coma." Diagnus put away his supplies.

"You can't be serious!" Kim Possible snapped. "I mean, he's always been a bit of a big eater, but he never eats not drinks his emotions like this!"

Ruba's fists clenched in frustrated thought. It seemed like she had an idea that she was not happy about. "Dad, why don't you take the rest of the family out for dinner?"

The humans looked like she was screwing her priorities. Diagnus, on the other hand, was concerned. "Guarantee me that your alternative idea will not involve an overdose of your powers."

"Guaranteed." Diagnus looked unconvinced. "I can forward you Loyus' monetary numbers…"

"Ruba!" He was shocked.

"Plus a three-weeks parental discount for you to have all the dreamy pampering at any Oasia spa."

Now Diagnus looked convinced. Unhappy, but convinced. "You and I eventually need to have a talk."

"Naturally." Ruba just shrugged while her father patted her on the head. She had to wait until he finally got upstairs to text Waremeralda to rush here as fast as she could.

"Are you sure you want to have Emerald… do it?" Coralus looked worried.

"Why? What will Emerald do?" Monkey Fist asked.

"Something that will get all of you killed if I find out your tongues let it slip!" Ruba viciously warned.

"RUBA! Emerald's here!" Cainus shouted from upstairs.

"Tell her to come in the clinic!" Ruba shouted back. The sound of a door opening and numerous locks turning were heard and Emerald came running down. She had changed out of her Felindrax uniform for some more casual clothes and her red hair now had a new shade, one of blush, that didn't quite work with her skin's complexion. She looked at Ruba with a knowing expression and yelped when she saw Ron Stoppable on the operating table.

"I don't think I can." She shook her head.

"He's not going to hurt you," Ruba said.

"I know that! But I don't if whatever he has will! The last time I did it… I almost killed everybody!" Emerald bit her lip.

"Emerald…"

The half-Lorwardian looked at Ruba.

"I trust you," Ruba said quietly.

Emerald looked uneasily, but she finally gave in. She approached the operating table under the apprehensive eyes of the humans. "Oy…" She pulled up her sleeves and held her hands out. Her eyes closed and her eyes opened up, glowing in strange hues of brown. Her green hands thinned into dark brown hands of twisted roots that she immediately shoved onto Ron Stoppable's face. He screamed and his eyes glowed blue.

"WHAT'S SHE DOING TO HIM?" Kim Possible had to be held back by Gilliard and Coralus.

Emerald shook as her root hands sank further into the man's face. "Really emotional… Let's… Let's talk about it…"

"No!" Ron Stoppable struggled.

"Soothe down, let's talk memories of home… I'm seeing a house…"

"That's private!"

"A house isn't private. A home is. A _good _home… Your childhood home looks so kind and warm… You're lucky you got to live in your childhood home."

Ron Stoppable's muscles tensed down, but he didn't surrender.

"Your parents… Strange, yet caring. Wait, what's an actuary?"

"A number cruncher."

"I never liked math. A little sister… No, let's not talk about her."

This remark surprised the Fiskes. "What happened to the Han?" Monkey Fist asked Kim Possible. She gave him an equally confused look.

"Your school life was strange… but it had its sweetness. Wait, why are you wearing a pink dress… and a purple tail?"

"Oh, that was Halloween!" Kim Possible chuckled. "He was a ballerina in preschool and a unicorn's lower half in high school!"

"Wait, what's Halloween?" Coralus was confused.

The Fiskes weren't quite sure what was going on. Somehow, Waremeralda was having some kind of empath power over Ron Stoppable. Was she trying to get him over his emotional crisis by having him think happy thoughts?

"It's really brave what you did decades ago," Emerald stopped shaking. "You managed to annihilate my aunt and uncle out of love for your wife."

Unfortunately, she hit a button she shouldn't have. Ron Stoppable's powers activated to electrocute the teenager through her hands. Her eyes stopped glowing, her hands reverted back to normal, and she got tossed into a cabinet.

"YOUR FAMILY TRIED TO MURDER MINE!" He glowed blue in anger.

"Ron!" Kim Possible tried to calm down her husband, but he just threw her onto a chair.

"You have every right to be angry…" Waremeralda cried. "My aunt and uncle menaced your wife. My cousin tried to exploit your daughter. Why do you think my father is being treated like shit?"

He didn't stop glowing in anger, but he kept himself from attacking her.

"I never met Warmonga and Warhok, but do you think I like the idea that I'm related to them? I never bothered to meet Wardeth, he was already a criminal to Lorwardians! I constantly get treated like garbage: aliens don't like me because they think my race is savage, Lorwardians don't like me because I'm a hybrid, and Ritus and Loyus made my life hell because my dad is Warmonga's brother! My father couldn't raise me because the Felindrax claimed me for my mark and my mom could never be near me in public because it would mean my death! SO YEAH, GO ON TO TELL ME THAT YOUR LIFE'S UNFAIR WHEN YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS IDIOTS MADE YOUR OWN KID LIVE THE SAME KIND OF CRAP I LIVED MY WHOLE LIFE!"

It seemed like her words had hit him since his blue glow disappeared and was replaced by a saddened expression. This didn't stop Waremeralda from running out of the clinic in tears and for Ruba and Coralus to go after her.

…

There's usually an amount of people who'd claim that an occurred incident was there fault. Others would deny it was their fault.

Ron Stoppable was in-between. After he had been recovered, he immediately escorted back to Loyus' house, with now a guard patrolling the house outside. Ruba had personally ransacked Loyus' basement and thrown out every single bottle outside. She threatened to enforce a no-drinking law on all priests should Loyus let a similar mistake, guaranteeing a potential retirement for Loyus if the other priests got angry. From the other side of the door, Ron heard the High Priest and his ward arguing, somebody slapping the other, and a door slamming. The door of the guest room then opened and Coralus came in, carrying a bowl of violberries. Ron's first thought was that Coralus was yet again going to try to drug him, but he was proven wrong. Coralus sat on the guest bed and ate the violberries himself.

"I just slapped Loyus," he said flatly.

Ron's eyes widened. "Why?"

"I don't know." The teenager shrugged. "Nothing's restraining me. We're not biologically related, I scare him all the time, and almost everybody hates him."

"How pitiful." Ron shook his head.

"Hey! I would have slapped you after the way you made Waremeralda cry!" Coralus pointed his fork at Ron in defense. "But I'm not an idiot. Slapping you would have been the same thing as kicking the nest of a lavennet hive." Ron looked at him in confusion. "Lavennet? The size of my foot, purple-colored hornet. One sting can make you do weird things scratch, sneeze, cough, walk on your hands, or even sit on your head. A whole hive would permanently sever your mentality." He continued eating from his bowl until he finished. "You sir, are a walking lavennet hive nest."

Ron shrugged. "I have been called worse."

"Because you are. I'm aware of your multiple problems, but your aggression at Waremeralda was horrible. She didn't deserve it after all the effort she took in getting you out of your coma… that I caused."

Coralus looked unhappily at his now empty bowl. His hands were quivering as he held it, probably because his emotions almost made him strong enough to break it. Ron recognized that kind of expression. It was the kind of expression any teenager would have if he knew he was responsible for the poor situation his crush was in. The human adult sat down next to Coralus.

"How long have you liked her?"

"Probably the first time she almost constricted me with a hug when we were twelve."

Ron was surprised. "You fell in love with a girl… after she almost killed you via hugging."

"Well it suits her peppy nature. I had… complications in my childhood and I was being exploited in a mine when Ruba found, saved, and brought me here. People were freaked out upon seeing me… They don't see Batrishania folk like me every day, so they kept some intense distance at first. Then one day I came to Ruba's house for tea at the same time Waremeralda decided to crash for a visit. Ruba introduced her, I expected her to make a run for it, but she ended up hugging me and saying we we're going to be great friends…"

"And for the years that came, she displayed you kindness that you could never imagine, so you fell for her." Ron sighed. "Kind and strong women. Don't we always fall for them."

"She's more of a talker than a fighter. Not that she doesn't know how to fight – clearly the opposite- but she tries to talk things out first before violence ends up being Plan B."

The next minutes of silence weren't as awkward as they had initially feared. Ron offered to help Coralus clean the dishes, which the latter didn't refuse.

"Whatever happened to Emerald's parents?" Ron asked.

Coralus soaked the dishes in a bubble-filled sink. "Her biological ones? I think you already know the answer to that. She screamed it at you: the same Lorwardians who attacked your planet the first and second times are her aunt, uncle, and cousin…"

"WHAT happened to Emerald's PARENTS?" Ron repeated. "How did they manage to make it out clean while she has to worry about hiding her powers while Ruba threatens others with death?"

Coralus widened his eyes in horror. He realized too late that the water in the sink froze solid, trapping his hands and the dishes in layers of ice thicker than an iceberg.

"Funny thing about my powers," Ron commented. "For the last fourteen years, I continued to evolve my powers to the point that I managed to hear anything while unconscious, which was ideal in case the fear of the Fiskes breaking into my room while I slept came true. So yeah, I pretty much overheard the ranting in the clinic before Emerald invaded my private memories. And don't think I didn't notice the peculiar thing about you and Emerald." Ron traced his finger on Coralus' left cheek. The veins he touched glowed blue, only to turn into a shade of glowing black. "I find it hypocritical. You aliens throw tantrums because you want my daughter dead to save millions of lives and destroy the gods… yet Ruba will lie to the people she promised to serve… just to hide the truth of a couple of individuals."

"You know you can't expect me to betray her, right?" Coralus said flatly.

"I don't want you or Emerald to betray her," Ron shook his head and revealed his glowing blue eyes to Coralus, scaring the child with their expression thirsting for vengeance. "But I will kill both of you if you don't help me get my vengeance on Monkey Fist and his family."


	10. The Felindrax Human and Ideal Liar

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 10: The Felindrax Human and Ideal Liar

They pretty much had to wait for three days ever since the clinic incident for things to calm down and visit Geni.

The Entertainment Emporium was by far the most insane building on the planet, fitting for the insane shapeshifter who ruled this outer space house of chaos. It was composed of thousands of colored minerals, to make it look like a rainbow was once shattered and assembled into a cube. The interior had at least fifty levels with the center hollowed out to make room for futuristic rollercoasters, gambling games, ten arcades, diverse restaurants, a nightclub, and worse, hotel rooms that were clearly meant for one-night only guests.

Martin and Monkey Fist had to go alone since the Simian Witch had to talk to Kim Possible and Gilliard was stuck with Cainus. Unsurprisingly, they found Motor Ed and Edina successfully out-gambling the other aliens. It would explain why they were collecting so many viols to get themselves some alien vehicles.

Geni let them in his Spartan office, a stark contrast to the crazy Entertainment Emporium. The moment Martin and his father sat down, Geni stomped on the floor five times and a trapdoor opened. He pulled out a red manuscript out of it.

"Convenient place to hide a robbed text," Martin commented.

"I have my private areas rigged," Geni said as he placed the book on his desk. Without his consent, Martin grabbed the book and sniffed it. He was so relieved to feel the good old scent of pressed paper, but was disappointed when he found only blank, yellow pages the moment he opened the book.

"Are you joking me?" Martin growled.

"What? Did you honestly think that the priests would put high information onto a physical copy that anyone could steal and read?" Geni took the book back and placed it on the table. His appearance changed to that of an elderly alien with a red heart-shaped mask concealing his face. "_The goddess of love's secrets shall be held by her loyal hive. Let me in to Crimson's Hidden Archive._"

The book shook, turned the pages rapidly, and glowed red. A ghostly red door grew out of the gutter and opened before them. Geni turned back into a teenager and led the humans in.

"So… the book is actually a key to a pocket dimension?" Martin looked at the red tunnel they were going through. For once, he felt good about seeing ancient walls, jagged, dangerous, and leading to some hidden underground chamber.

"The priests are tricky regardless of which god they serve," Geni explained. "With everyone relying on tablets, it's believed that only priests can record their deity's secrets in manuscripts since none would dare to touch something so primitive."

"Considering you robbed them, that's a laugh." Monkey Fist snorted.

"I know, right?" Geni chuckled. "But the priests do think about possibilities of temple robbers, so instead of using manuscripts to record secrets, they use them as entrances to a pocket dimension serving as an archive with access limited solely to priests. They didn't give enough intelligence to their system."

"How so?"

"Did you see the way I opened the entrance? The book didn't recognize that I was an imposter. I took some DNA samples from the priests, obtained their password and appearance, and I just made my way in." A doorway appeared at the end of the tunnel. "Black market dealers would kill their neighbors just to get their hands on divine secrets. Makes them richer than the elite. I used my shapeshifting powers to infiltrate the temples as one of the priests, spied on them, and pretty much stole one of the manuscripts so I could have my own access to the archives, and sell some secrets on the black market."

"Let me guess." Martin grimaced. "You used the money to make this extravagant casino of yours?"

"Actually no. Ruba had the Felindrax Treasury create a massive bank account for me in exchange for stopping my divine secrets contraband. So now I come here for light reading."

They made it inside the archive. The sight itself made the Fiske men want to cry: a massive red sandstone room the size of a football stadium bearing thousands of red glass shelves reflecting beautiful red rays. The shelves held diverse relics, manuscripts, scrolls, and even minor things like toys. The walls were decorated by numerous red stained glass windows, each representing some massive man or woman surrounded by minuscule people.

"Oh, check it. It's you!" Geni poked Martin to look at the nearest glass window. Martin was shocked to see that the diverse red shards formed a copy of him while blue and purple shards formed copies of Ronilda and Ruba respectively. An uncomfortable expression appeared on Martin's face when he saw that the stained glass window showed him and Ruba using an anguished Ronilda as a human rope for a vicious game of tug-of-war.

"Son?" Monkey Fist placed his hand on Martin's shoulder. Martin couldn't resist having a better look at the other stain glasses and now it was clear to him that each of them reflected the previous hosts of Crimson. Many of the horrific pictures included a woman gleefully watching as mortal adults tore each other apart, a man distributing a love potion to priests, a woman drowning people in wealth and weapons, a man watching his children fight for his approval, and too many other men, women, or undetermined hosts who seemed to have been involved between the hosts of Violet or Royal, a thousand shards to match the heartbreak of the spurred in question.

The stained glass window next to Martin's was definetly showing Crimson's previous host and it was a ghastly sight: Royal's male host was crying his heart out and holding the decapitated body of Crimson's host. The glass showed the essence of Crimson trying to escape the corpse, only to be struck by the younger predecessor of Ruba.

Geni noticed Martin's expression at the sight of the stained glass. "It wasn't the first time Crimson frolicked between her marriage to Royal and her affair with Violet. Violet had enough of Crimson's undecided, yet inconsiderate nature, so she forced her host to kill Crimson's and strike the essence into a seemingly endless coma."

"Is this really what I am?" Martin dropped on his knees.

"No…" Monkey Fist tried to reassure him. "You aren't as bad as they are…"

"I used to be known for having a stone heart… I tried to drug Ronilda after I met her because she made me angry… and after finally having something, I lose her… Is it really what I was bound to do as Crimson's host?"

"Nah. Crimson's inactive, so your problems are your own doing." Geni said bluntly.

The Fiske men gave him dried looks. "Thank you," Martin replied sarcastically.

"Anytime." Geni took the compliment and headed for the shelves. "We got thirty minutes until the next priest comes in with some secret to lock up." He morphed back into the priest form he had used earlier and summoned a holographic screen to project from one of the shelves. The Fiskes watched as he cautiously narrowed down his research through the archives' catalog. "Godly host history… Problematic divine relationships… Mortal to deity contracts… Astral calendars…"

About ten books and scrolls catapulted themselves off their shelves and formed a stack onto the desk. Since he was the only one who could read the alien dialects, Geni searched through the secrets for the Fiskes.

"The prom night of the sixth cycle… No!" Geni put a scroll aside. "The different flings of Crimson's hosts." He threw the massive book aside. "The three-color love triangle." He also threw that massive book aside. "The pros and cons of being a godly host. This might work, and it's got a glossary." Geni turned the book open to the glossary. "Multi-function love. Understanding love. Performing love. Visual love. Mental love. Loveless. The Loving Relationship Between Crimson and Her Host."

"Go to that chapter," Monkey Fist said.

" 'After another battle against Violet, Crimson's essence tends to be trapped by Royal in a red crystal to represent her heart. Royal will hide his consort's essence on a newly born planet and should her essence be transferred into a living being, Crimson will only awaken in a host if he or she is born from a loving relationship.' Guess you and your wife were happily hitched…"

"Can you please continue?" Monkey Fist was getting impatient.

Geni continued reading. " 'Crimson's host tend to be chaotic in the divine schism. Due to the chaotic functions of love, the goddess never stays on the same sides per cycle. Crimson tends to influence her hosts' emotions depending on her interests, especially considering the matter of her husband Royal and her lover Violet and perhaps the other gods she had affairs with. The few hosts who did manage to ignore Crimson's influence tend to be poorly trusted by the other gods' hosts.' That's not good."

"How so?" Martin asked nervously.

"Well the good news is that since Crimson is still inactive in you, she had zero interference in whatever messed up love life you had. The bad part? Because of her record, most aliens don't trust you." He continued reading through the chapter until he eventually put it aside. He searched through another scroll and found what they were looking for.

"An ancient calendar!" The scroll had an illustration of many planets aligned in a perfect circular line. At the heart, twelve stones of twelve different colors were shooting beams at some sort of colorless corporeal form screaming in pain while a colorless spirit got out of the body. "This might be a secret concerning the extraction formula…"

"That ring of planets…" Monkey Fist traced his finger over the illustrated planets. "A very rare time when all over the universe form a perfect ring… around this star?"

"It's been nicknamed 'the universe's bellybutton' solely for metaphorical reasons." Geni pulled out his tablet to take a picture of the scroll's illustration. "It's a laugh because that star is said to be the doorway of the God Home. The land they were said to originate… The one place their essences could move freely without a host… The only place in the universe where the extraction must be performed…. And unfortunately, this scroll says nothing about the extraction itself."

"But at least we can figure out where it's located." Martin checked around the placement of the God Home among the other stars displayed on the scroll. He also had Geni compare the illustration to modern maps of constellations, both human and alien. "Father, the God Home is in the Orion constellation…"

"And the star serving as a doorway is none other than the Betelgeuse star." Monkey Fist rolled his eyes. "Gilliard will be laughing none stop."

"Speaking of stop, we'd better put these things back and make a run for it!" Geni put everything back where he found them and rushed the Fiske men back to the tunnel. When a priest of Crimson came to do his round, he saw nothing suspicious.

_Much later_

"It's easy," Martin told the other humans (sans Ron Stoppable, who hadn't shown up) as they headed to the arena. Yet again, another test was happening, only this time it wasn't for the sixteen-year-olds but for a bunch of third-cured Felindrax adults. "As soon as this thing is over, we talk to Ruba about the calendar and the God Home."

"Are you sure it will work?" Will Du asked. "There's still no details about the date of the planets' circular formation nor the requirements for such a ceremony."

"I'm trying to be positive." Martin scowled.

They made it to the seats reserved for them. It wasn't even dusk yet and all the aliens present already looked bored senseless.

"Hey guys!"

Well maybe not all of them.

"How's it going?" Emerald came up to them. Compared to the last time the Fiskes saw her at the clinic incident, she was still peppy as if nothing happened.

"Not much. Isn't your boyfriend supposed to be with the other VIPs? Seriously?" Edina pointed at the platform where Ruba, Loyus, and Ritus sat with visiting alien dignitaries.

"He and Ron Stoppable went for a walk-and-talk. Coralus wanted to learn a lot on the religion he originates from." She sighed and sat down. "Isn't he dreamy when he acts like a know-it-all wannabe?"

The humans looked at her in exasperation. Then again, with her weird level of devotion to some creepy being, they almost saw something from her aunt in her.

"So lass, what's the purpose of the tests today?" Duff managed to change the subject.

"Ugh. Just professional artists trying to improve their pathetic careers from bar club performances to full-time regal troubadours." Emerald rolled her eyes. "They try to get hired by singing songs of their superiors. Usually it's always about the monarch or high priest, but it's been about Ruba for the last few years. Check out last year's excuses."

Emerald pulled out her tablet and showed the humans a holographic projection of the video she took last year.

_Magnificent dame_

_Of the radiant purpleness, _

_You steal all our hearts._

_The cascading hair_

_Like showering meteors,_

_She makes us quiver._

_The dazzling eyeballs_

_That drive evil to madness_

_Is our own blessing._

_The primitive dream_

_That rivals only Crimson_

_Is Ruba Kala. _

In the video, the audience was unable to talk. Emerald had managed to do a close-up of Ruba snoring in her seat. Ritus had shaken her awake and Loyus had told the poet in the video that if this were a divine bore-to-sleep contest, the guy would have won. The other taped performances weren't even worth mentioning.

"So… it's basically an ego-explosive fest?" Gilliard said drily.

"Oh, the year before that fiasco was worse. Ruba pretty much walked out at the first performance and they find out she ditched the gig to go wrestle with some wild dragons in the planet's wilderness."

The tests began. Probably because of the poor reputations from the previous years, only two candidates were present: Geni, and some blue-haired third-cured Felindrax nobody cared to ask for his name. Geni sat down on the ground and pulled out some sort of alien cord instrument. In a performance similar to the one they did at the reception party, Vergilus and FITS played around with their mist-and-glitter trick.

Geni: _There is a human, a friend to us all,_

_Who stands up and saves others from the fall._

_Her heart shines like moonstones, her eyes like stars,_

_A hero, a leader, a companion from afar._

_It's Ruba Kala, the Felindrax human._

_Nothing rivals her extraterrestrial kindness_

_Besides the inner warrior full of fearlessness._

_The universe is full of enemies _

_Of jealousy redder than rubies_

_Who now wish they never met… THE FELINDRAX HUMAN!_

Geni managed to morph his instrument into something closer to a guitar. His friends turned the mist-and-glitter into an epic theatrical performance displaying Ruba fighting diverse enemies. Everyone in the audience, including the humans, were amazed and applauded. Even Ruba applauded from her stand.

Geni: _Violet's chosen rocked the worlds,_

_Defeating enemies with her magical swords._

_She fights immortals, demons, and crazy clowns._

_If there was a reward for bravery, she'd get the crown!_

_Felindrax human, she's our best friend._

_She always strong and independent._

_She'll often throw some sass, but it's alright,_

_Because she's the chosen one guiding us through the night!_

"Is there anything Geni can't do?" Martin was baffled when the crowd applauded and threw flowers at Geni.

"He can't sleepwalk."

They yelped when they saw Diamona and Flora sitting on the bleachers behind them. "How long have you been here?" Shego asked.

"We got a bit late. I had to check on my mom. She's having dinner with Sharia and Kim Possible," Flora explained. "Having a ladies' night to avoid the tests and also have a heart-to-heart between mothers…"

"Which ended up being a fiesta of talking about how ridiculous their husbands were during their school years?" Diamona snickered at Flora. "It seems to be universal. Amazons always go for the weak geeks."

"Excuse me, what of you and your rockstar lover?" Flora pointed an accusing finger at the arena, where Geni was leaving to make room for the last candidate. Geni spotted the girls in time to blow a kiss at Diamona's direction. She sighed while almost everyone else cringed.

"You and Geni are dating?" Camillo was the only one unfazed.

"Two years and a half now. Why?"

"Just wondering how people here see it. It's kinda messed up on Earth with that kind of thing… Humans are overly sensitive, you know?"

"Go figure." Diamona rolled her eyes. "We lived with one constantly having existential crisis since primary education."

The second candidate went on with his performance. Unlike Geni's musical performance, this one went on with a holographic presentation. "As I like to call it," he said, "a realistic presentation of Ruba Kala's numerous… faults."

This startled the audience, but the VIP looked in horror as the holographic presentation went on to broadcast videos which, based on the diverse reactions of disapprovals from the audience, must have been classified. The first one showed Ruba and her companions dragging some purple-skinned female alien towards a facility on an asteroid.

"_Well ain't that delightful?"_ The alien prisoner snorted. "_Throw me in an asylum of mandatory joy and lie to the Felindrax that you killed me. Won't they find you heroic?"_

"_Shut up!_" Ruba snapped. _"You betrayed our planet and you tricked me into releasing that ultraviolet beam on you!_"

"But Monarch Ritus said Ruba had executed her for high treason!" One of the fully-cured Felindrax shouted over the disappointed exclaims.

A second video showed Ruba fighting some alien who seemed to be the same species as Diamona, only her skin was lavender blue, her bluish eyes cold and bitter, and her black-and-teal hair nearly blending in the cave they were fighting in. In the background was a chained and traumatized person who looked like a younger Coralus. He looked starved and ill, like he had been trapped for a while.

"_How could you?_" Ruba asked her enemy in a horrified tone. _"He's only a kid!_"

"_So are you,_" the enemy shrugged. _"Then again, I've been using his predecessors to find more of your type. I've consumed so many godly host essences; I should thank him for finally introducing me to you. I've been hungering for you._" The video cut to Ruba meeting Loyus and Ritus and shaking hands.

"_So we agree," _Ritus declared. "_That no one is to mention in public the nature of Coralus."_

"_Agreed._"

"_Let's bring him in then._" A few seconds later, the younger Coralus was brought by Ruba to meet Loyus and Ritus. Though he looked cleaner, there was still a look of trauma on him.

"_Coralus, Loyus has agreed to keep you as his ward,_" Ruba told Coralus. "_He'll teach you to be his successor._"

"_High priest of Violet?_" Coralus frowned. _"But how will that work? I'm already Ebony's host._"

Now the crowd got enraged. They shouted angry words about the superiors but continued watching the last video, which only got worse.

"_This is concerning, Ruba,"_ Warheart was speaking to Ruba in what seemed to be the Lorwardian throneroom. "_My spies have reported that Wardeth finally found the source of his obsessions. He's found the host of Royal and he's bound on using her to spread his maniacal plans._"

"_Yes!" _Ruba jumped on her feet like an excited child on Christmas. "_Your idiotic nephew will need to hire some Felindrax mercenaries. With Ritus help, I can easily have Wardeth hire me to do his dirty work! Oh, I can already feel my freedom coming!"_

"_Ruba…"_

"_And don't worry. Once I destroy Royal's host, we'll have Wardeth incarcerated and I'll be able to convince the other monarchs that for repayment of my repaid services, we improve the laws so that way you can have your lover and your daughter back! Emerald will be so happy to have her family back!"_

Monkey Fist, Martin, and the Simian Witch briefly stared at Emerald, who was biting her lips to avoid crying.

"_You're not listening!_" It was surprising to hear Warheart shout in the video when he had acted so meek in public. "_Ruba, my spies informed me the nature of Royal's host. She's only a child."_ This startled the Ruba of the video. Warheart went out to show her some holographic footage of Ronilda Stoppable's childhood: her parents finding out through Yori that the Fiskes had returned, them leaving her to live with her grandmother in a high penthouse, being locked inside the apartment whenever her grandmother went outside, being homeschooled, and jumping off the building. "_She's not even sixteen yet and her inherited powers are malfunctioning due to her unstable emotions. She's so desperate for freedom that she committed a nearly-suicidal attempt of escape, disfigured her identity, and very much gladly embraced a villainous community just because they give her the freedom she always wanted. Oh, and let's not forget the six-years-older-than-her Fiske boy! Exactly how healthy is it that mere days after leaving a claustrophobic nest, she starts arguing like a married couple with the offspring of parental enemies?_"

Ruba had strange expressions in the video. They went from frowning when she saw RJ and Martin in the video and coldly looking at Warheart. _"Is there a point you want to make or are you trying to give me ideas on human soap operas?"_

Warheart looked sternly at her. _"I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me there's no way that you'll actually kill her."_

This startled the audience as much as it startled Ruba on the video. _"Are you kidding me? Warheart, I'm Violet's host! My duty is to kill Royal's host to finally bring the universe at peace!"_

"_By killing a child? Please! You couldn't kill a Felindrax dragon because his back legs were limping! And you told me that before Violet finally accepted you, her previous hosts asked how your mercy to the dragon would be different to you executing Royal's host. And you said, and I quote, 'Royal's hosts are never helpless.' And what a coincidence! ROYAL'S HOST IS HELPLESS!"_

Ruba looked ashamed as Warheart got angry, but she couldn't let go of her pride. "_They expect me to kill her… Violet wants me to stain the ground with her blood. She wants Royal dead."_

"_And didn't she choose you to be her host because you also had a heart._" Warheart sighed in disappointment. "_I can't believe I actually thought you were better than her previous hosts. Even you can't resist switching morals for the sake of selfish people._"

The video ended and the candidate walked his merry way out whistling. It was nothing compared to the angry emotion the alien crowd was throwing that required guards to come in and hold them down. Loyus and Ritus were just as shocked when they realized Ruba had vanished. While Diamona and Flora rushed the humans out of the arena, Martin ran for the jerk who had provoked the anger.

It wasn't because he thought the male's action was disgusting nor did he care how Ruba must have felt. It's because he felt that something was wrong: as far as he managed to understand it, everyone in this planet was said to adore her, and even if there were some who disliked her, they wouldn't have gone as far as to start a mob.

He got out of the arena and stopped when he saw Ron Stoppable and Coralus walking towards the arena.

"Fiske?" Stoppable looked surprised. "Whatever happened? If we weren't in outer space, I'd have guessed that the violent screams meant a showcase between Pain King and Steel Toe."

Martin cringed a bit. "Uh… are you alright?"

"Yes. Coralus and I did some bonding and helped me get a bit more oriented with the neighborhoods. You should consider checking the sixth neighborhood, they have GREAT seaweed exfoliating!" Stoppable pulled out a compact mirror to admire his reflection. "Man, they're good! I can't even see my freckles!"

"They did wonders for my dry skin issues when I was younger," Coralus agreed.

Martin got some luck to run away from the vanity fair when he spotted Ruba running towards the temple. He ran after and managed to get on the staircase just as a glowing opening appeared.

"Ruby!" He grabbed her arm.

"I told you to not call me that!" She tried to shove him away.

"Why does it matter?"

She frowned at his question.

"You already opened up about your insecurities and how you manage to restrain yourself to appear perfect! Why does it matter if some nobody tries to rub some videos on you? Don't they already know you're competent?"

"As a host…" She looked at him tearfully. "Not as I am."

He let go of her, only for Ruba to take his hand and lead him through the glowing entrance. Martin felt unusual warmth going through him as they went through the glow. It eventually vanished and he saw the interior of the temple of Violet.

It seemed endless and limitless, as if the empty void of outer space full of stars was inside, as if the walls never existed, as if they could see everything in the city while the other side couldn't see the temple. The surface they walked on was invisible, making him feel like floating. At the heart stood a purple egg-shaped building with golden framing, perhaps the temple. A pathway stood between them and the temple, framed by the statues of Ruba's predecessors. Ruba let go of Martin's hand to see the action happening after the mess at the arena: civilians being escorted into facilities by the guards and the humans arguing with Ritus and Loyus inside the palace.

Ruba: _They don't want friends, just beings who help them move forward._

_They claim we have a say, but we don't even get the last word._

_Let's be real, unless they see anything useful,_

_They'll just ignore us. Isn't that dreadful?_

Martin followed her as she headed through the pathway and stared shamefully at the statues.

Ruba: _They want a perfect host, but how can I go higher?_

_So am I really to blame if I'm an ideal liar?_

_I'm useless without her, I don't have powers of my own._

_I must pretend to be special unless I want to be alone._

_So am I really to blame if I'm an ideal liar?_

_I'm an ideal liar_.

_I aim to be firm, but how could they expect me to react_

_When an old idol of mine planned to betray behind my back?_

_How could they expect me to reveal a child hosting a divinity_

_When I tried to protect him from another agony?_

_How could they expect me to act cold and regal_

_When I couldn't even kill a child who's hosting Royal?_

_They want a perfect host, but how can I go higher?_

_So am I really to blame if I'm an ideal liar?_

_I'm useless without her, I don't have powers of my own._

_I must pretend to be special unless I want to be alone._

_So am I really to blame if I'm an ideal liar?_

_I'm an ideal liar_.

Ruba sat down on the stairs leading to the temple. Martin felt immense pity for her. The videos didn't just ruin her reputation, they were a crushing attempt on her spirit since in Ruba's perspective, her humanity meant nothing outside being Violet's host. He sat down next to her and used his finger to dry away her tears, causing her to feel his fur brushing on her cheek.

Martin: _They might want a perfect host, but stars aren't identical no matter how they go further._

_So you're really not to blame. You're not an ideal liar. _

_Before she even came in, you worked hard to stand out on your own._

_If you weren't special, then why do you have friends who never make you feel alone?_

_You're really not to blame. You're not an ideal liar. _

He really had no idea why he went that far. For the next minutes, he and Ruba just sat on the staircase and watched the endless void of stars as seen from the temple.

"To think that somewhere among those stars is my birth planet…" Ruba sighed. "I did manage to enjoy some sunrises when I went there… for my duty." She looked at Martin. "I guess you're upset after seeing how the videos proved me immoral."

"Not really." Martin shook his head. When he saw Ruba's confused expression, he shrugged. "The other villains and I wouldn't stop getting asked if we would have killed Ronilda if we had found out who she was at any moment. None of us could ever get an answer to come out. As for me… I don't even know why I didn't even think 'hey, maybe she's related to the enemy'. I could only think about _her_ talents and flaws that either angered or appealed me, and now that I see her parents, I think she's FAR from being compared to them. And frankly, I'm disturbed by how unstable Ron Stoppable has become."

"They were separated for a lifetime. I can't blame him."

Her tapping fingers made ticking sounds as the metal of her claws struck each other. "Besides the thing with Wardeth… what happened with the other situations that got the Felindrax so worked up? Not to ask out of judgment, but to, you know, talk it out to take out some burden off your chest?"

Ruba pondered but gave in. "The young female I dragged to an asylum? She used to be a Felindrax warrior that I idolized growing up. You know, the kind that goes on adventures, defeats monsters and evil aliens, gives lectures and tutorials to the learners, and would make any girl desperate to have her as a mentor? Growing up, I thought that if I were never chosen as Violet's host, my dream job would be that of a national hero like her. And about half-a-year after I was chosen, I got to go on a mission with her!" Ruba sniffed. "My friends got into a dangerous situation that tempted me into boosting my powers to a higher level… and she ensured that would happen because she wanted to be struck by my ultraviolet beam."

"An ultraviolet beam?"

"Gods can have some kind of ultimate level to their essences. When they were in their full forms at the beginning, they could get ultimate at anytime, but now it requires a highly competent host to attain it. For hosts of Violet, it's called 'going ultraviolet'."

"And you and Oystra are the only hosts who've managed to attain."

Ruba frowned. "How did you figure it out so quickly?"

"You both have the record for outliving the other hosts," Martin said. "So what kept you from killing your idol? Why just throw her in an asylum?"

"Questions would have been asked. I mean, I can _easily _avoid getting my essence consumed by a witch who's been consuming nine other godly host essences to survive ten cycles, how can I possibly explain lashing out a high-level power and getting a sample stolen by a mere mortal? How could I explain that a war veteran had lost her faith in the gods, _period, _and she doesn't give a shit if the apocalypse comes because hey, she's got a portion of my powers! So yeah, I thought death was too cheap for her, so I got her incarcerated in an asylum run by insane Canary-worshippers! Public version of the story: she died via heroic sacrifice. Real version: she constantly tries to escape an asylum where they try to brainwash her into forced happiness!"

Ruba's veins almost popped out of her skull. She then spaced out and calmed down. "Sorry."

"Violet scolding you?"

"She never stopped."

"Does Coralus get that kind of problem with Ebony?"

This brought on to the topic of the second situation. "No, he handles it better. Ever since the second cycle, his Batrishania family had members who had the disadvantage of being Ebony's host. He's… a bit strange. He prefers to stay neutral, so what he does is that once a cycle begins, his essence is transferred into an opal, sealed in a box, and guarded by Coralus' family. They have been specifically warned to never open the box unless they want the one who opens it to become his host."

"Very much an alien Pandora's Box. But Coralus just couldn't resist?"

Ruba shook her head. "A week before _I _was chosen, he couldn't resist the curiosity. Ebony possessed him as soon as the lid opened. It was bad enough because Coralus already had mental health problems, but because he started predicting probable futures, his family kept him hidden in their house for safekeeping. It didn't stop the witch from kidnapping him, trapping him in a mine, consuming his essence piece by piece, and using him to find the next hosts to be revealed… She had done it to his predecessors."

"But you saved him. Why do you need to hide his nature?"

"**Nobody trusts Ebony.**" Martin was rather startled; he hadn't heard Violet speak through Ruba's mouth in a while. **"The gods always debate on his motives because Ebony keeps staying neutral. Even Iron doesn't trust Ebony and that's saying something! So why keep around someone whose affiliations are blurry… when you could just kill him?"**

_Meanwhile_

The chaos was ensuing as Ron Stoppable and Coralus watched, safely on the roofdeck of the palace, as the guards escorted the rioting citizens safely and friendly out of the facilities. They were talking and laughing as if they had just come out of an epic movie marathon. Coralus' hands shook as he held his cup of tea while Ron Stoppable relished his.

"It's amusing, isn't it?" Ron said. "They find it so easy to judge the primitive responsibilities of humanity, but they have no problem dragging rioting citizens into facilities to brainwash them."

"The humans aren't brainwashed." Coralus pointed out.

"Even better." Ron finished his tea. "The Felindrax can easily start another nice day tomorrow, but the others won't be able to suppress the negative opinions for long. They'll be too busy fighting among each other when the time comes."

"But… what about your wife?" Coralus kept shaking. "Won't she be in a fit if she finds out that you revealed those videos in public… Just for the sake of creating the domino effect that will lead to a dark path of vengeance?"

Ron crushed his cup in his hands, terrifying the young boy as he easily crushed the object into insignificant dust that blew away in the night sky.

"My opinion didn't matter to her fourteen-years-ago, or even anytime before then. Frankly, the one time we probably agreed on anything was getting married. So no, I could care less what she'd think of the ideal liar I've become."


	11. The Decision

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 11: The Decision

"You'd lie and brainwash your own people?"

It would have been ironic if one of the human villains had said it since at least one of them had done brainwashing once, but when it was Will Du saying it, that was another matter. "I fail to see how that makes you above what you deem to be 'primitive'."

"See again, dude!" Motor Ed was less patient than him. "They pretty much dragged the mob indoors, and next thing you know, they come out with Stepford smiles! Seriously!"

"We aren't demented enough to use the 'happy-washing' methods of Canary-worshippers," Ritus tried to explain as quietly as he could. "All we did was alternate the bad memories of the mob. Instead of remembering the videos' projection and consequences, they'll now remember being evacuated due to a potentially-dangerous technical malfunction."

"The candidate who attempted to provoke such chaos, on the other hand, will probably suffer worse than brainwashing," Loyus responded. "What shall we do, Ritus? Incarcerate him? Permanent enslavement? Or should we just let him have the easy way out by execution?"

"I beg you pardon, Loyus, but we should wait for Ruba Kala to make a final decision…"

"Who knows how long it will take for her rationality to come back after she ran off?" Loyus snapped.

"Well _excuse me_, you drunk son of a…"

The monarch and the high priest went on to argue. The humans just watched, baffled, as these two continued arguing and Diamona and Flora made themselves manicures while passing the time.

"Which is better? Universal violet or green with envy?" Flora asked DNAmy randomly and showed her the bottles.

"That purple color works well with your cute outfit," DNAmy said.

Flora nodded gratefully and went on to apply the color on her nails. "Diamona, should we make another bet on how long this argument will last?"

"_Forget it_." Diamona filed her nails. "I've lost the last fifty-two bets you and I made on how long Ritus and Loyus would be arguing. Who do I kid? You beat me at any bet!"

Flora chuckled. "Right. You almost got your dad broke last year."

"I still have no clue on how _that_ even happened!"

"Oh, it was easy. After the last full house at the Beeceeia casino, Geni got you right in the…"

"Could we perhaps change the topic?" Monkey Fist snapped.

"Sure. How are things going with you and Stoppable?" DNAmy asked. "I was worried someone would get hurt ever since the trip started. He's a bit delicate."

"_Delicate?_" Monkey Fist widened his eyes. "What could possibly make him delicate?"

"His mental health."

"Well I already knew he was messed up _there._" Monkey Fist made the cuckoo gesture near his temple. "I already took a trip _in his head_ while I was _sleeping_! He didn't split his personality in half because he had parental depression!"

"That's what worries me." DNAmy's words stunned the humans. For some reason, Loyus and Ritus got into a catfight in the background. "Shego, didn't you tell me once that when Ron had his morality switched by the Attitudinator, he proved to be far more competent and dangerous as a villain?"

"Besting my husband in machines, outsmarting Kim, kicking my brothers' butts, easily dodging the electric blasts of Electronique, and almost using the Attitudinator on Kim?" Shego shuddered. "Not to mention that all it takes is _one good motivation_ to convince him to cause something chaotic _when he was still good._ Trust me, Warhok and Warmonga learned that VERY BADLY."

"Which is why I think that, by combining the 'motivation trigger' and 'dangerous efficiency'," DNAmy gestured with her hands, "a chaotic force was created. He is neither good nor evil, but because of his new neutral personalities, he's, well… How can I put it nicely?"

"An unusually motivated jerk?" Gilliard offered.

"Apathetic?" Will Du asked.

"Fearless, but corrupted corporation leader?" Melgo suggested. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"I was going to go for 'meanie', but sure." DNAmy shrugged. "I'm just saying… we might want to take extra precautions with him."

A crash was heard. They turned to see Loyus and Ritus throw chairs at each other. "What? How did that happen?" Drakken exclaimed.

"Please, Diamona! Let's bet on this! _I'm begging you!_" Flora kneeled before her friend in a begging pose.

"No!" Diamona shook her head. "I know your vile method! The moment these idiots start throwing chairs, you bet twenty viols that they'll destroy the throne…"

Just then, Ritus threw his throne at Loyus.

"Just before _that _happens, you bring it up to forty if they crack a few pillars…"

Drakken pulled Melgo and Camillo out of the way when pillars started falling.

"Then it goes to sixty if they cause the chandelier to fall and crash!"

Conveniently, the chandelier's chain cracked and started to fall. If Ruba and Martin hadn't happened to arrive at that time, Loyus and Ritus wouldn't have been saved by Ruba's telekinesis, the chandelier would have crushed them.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Ruba demanded. At the same time, Ron Stoppable, Coralus, Warheart, and Waremeralda came down from different directions and saw the damage.

"Wow!" Ron Stoppable whistled at the damage the two Felindrax had managed to cause. "I haven't seen such a mess ever since the parade float fiasco!"

"The parade float fiasco?" Coralus frowned.

"_Never _try to organize a Bueno Nacho parade float for the Rio de Janeiro Carnival… Talk about a financial crash." Ron Stoppable shook his head in shame.

Ritus and Loyus straightened themselves to regain their composures. Warheart, on the other hand, didn't bother to shield his disgust.

"You… are _pathetic_!" He waved his hand at the damaged palace interior. "Oh, sure! Let's publically make everyone feel worse about being inferior to us, but we can't even spend a few seconds without provoking a disaster-seeking tantrum!" The Lorwardian monarch gave a sarcastic applaud. "No really, _bravo_. I'd give it another two hours and you could have destroyed your city faster than my sister would have."

"Warheart…" Ruba tried to intervene.

"_Don't _try to 'Warheart', _missy!_" Warheart pointed at her enough to make her cringe like a child getting scolded by a teacher for her poor behavior. "I don't give a damn if it was to save the universe, you don't go around killing children and act like it was fun! You ought to be ashamed!" He turned to Martin. "And what we're _you _thinking? Drugging a girl you barely met?" He flicked his fingers at Martin's forehead, giving him full access to pain due to their gigantic sizes. Warheart then went on to gesture at the other humans. "Honestly, it would take me half of your combined lifetimes to lecture you all! The only decent ones among you are Aqua-Hacker, Fashion Self-Model, and I have no idea what you're supposed to be!" He respectively referenced Gilliard, Camillo, and Ron Stoppable. He especially frowned at Ron Stoppable. "I'm not pulling pranks. I have _no idea _of what you're supposed to be."

"Who has?" Ron shrugged. Drakken and Emerald couldn't resist giggling at the rather bad joke.

"Alright, enough!" Ruba snapped. "After some discussing, I've made a decision. We're leaving tomorrow to find Ronilda and the required items needed for the formula to extract Royal out of her."

Loyus and Ritus looked strangled, the humans surprised, and Warheart rather pleased by her new approach. "The Fiskes did some research, and after confirmation from Violet, we need to collect twelve relics, one from each god, and assemble them at the God's Home so that the planetary ring may activate them as the power booster needed for the extraction incantation. Of course, we do need the relics to surround the host, so we need Ronilda physically."

"Alright! Alien scavenger hunt!" Edina cracked her knuckles.

"But… the planetary ring is in thirty-two days and it takes about a day to travel from one planet to another," Emerald pointed out in a hesitant tone. "We already have Violet's relics here, but it would take eleven days of traveling, maybe more if we have to stay over or search other planets, and we have no idea where the girl is. Are we going to have enough time?"

"We will," Ruba said in a reassuring tone bordering close to over-confident. "We'll first head to Oasia and Coraplastia; they're the closest…"

"But what about the cases where the relics are split?" Emerald's point managed to freeze Ruba. "I mean, Royal's scepter was split in half and both pieces were on Earth. How do you know if the other relics you need haven't been disbanded into a jigsaw puzzle across the universe? And what about the gods that _are _reincarnated? Don't you think they might have hoarded full relics themselves? Or worse, imagine if Iron has his? Or if shady traders managed to rob them and…"

Emerald stopped talking when a stressing Ruba started to glow purple.

"Maybe worry about figuring out which relics we should go after first?" Will Du asked.

The aliens put back in place one of the tables that Loyus and Ritus had knocked over during their tiff. Since he was clearly the only alien monarch acting with maturity at the moment, Warheart navigated his way through the table's holographic projections until he pulled out file detailing the gods and their complete list of hosts and relics.

"Wouldn't the Blue God's scepter count since we already have it?" Killigan asked randomly.

"ABSOLUTELY not!" Warheart turned to confront him. "The Great Blue's scepter should NEVER come in contact with ANY of the other divine relics! At this rate, thank you for mentioning it!" Warheart quickly grabbed Ruba, Martin, and Coralus and pulled them at least 20-feet away from Ron Stoppable. "There! You three keep your distance from him!"

Ron Stoppable didn't react much to the scene as he was filing his fingers with a blue-colored nail file.

"You think you might be a bit paranoid, Dad?" Emerald was getting embarrassed.

"Emerald, this is serious! There's a reason why that scepter was cut in half in the first place!" He shook his head and decided to go back to business. He resumed navigating through the files. "I recommend finding the relics that are still in full pieces and of little importance to the population."

"Because if we steal a relic of high value, we might cause a population to riot?" Will Du guessed.

"Exactly. Ruba, for Violet's relics, I recommend we use the Cloak of Cougara."

"The relic of the very first host of Violet?" Loyus freaked out. Ruba snapped her fingers, summoning a portal from which she pulled out the weirdest piece of fashion yet: a cloak with different animal hides, ranging from furred to scaly, plain to rainbow, all sewn together in a messy, abstract fashion. The cloak had a clasp fashioned to resemble a chain of bones.

"Ugh!" Camillo shuddered. "I haven't seen a thing so ugly since they tried to bring back fur swimming gear!"

"I know, right? That piece of trash was from Cougara, the first host of Violet and the only fully-cured Felindrax warrior at the time who hunted dragons _for fun._" Diamona rolled her eyes. "Definetly use that for the ritual, Ruba. Nobody is going to miss that cloak granting invulnerability to the wearer."

"Ditto. Even Violet thinks Cougara was weird." Ruba tossed the cloak on the table with a lack of dignity.

Warheart went on to a file of a red bottle as thin as a finger. Its neck was coiled by veins reaching out to a heart encrusted at the bottle's stomach. Ruba looked uneasily at it.

"Don't tell me." Monkey Fist rolled his eyes. "A love potion from one of Crimson's hosts?"

"Just the bottle. Legend has it that Crimson's very first host managed to create a bottle that could summon an aphrodisiac fitting for the user," Flora explained. "Apparently it could take the physical form and scent the user wanted to unleash on his victim."

"Why is it unpopular?" Will Du asked.

"Only Crimson's host can undo the effects. So if somebody got a hold of that bottle… let's just say that Monkey Boy would have to do some kissing in case someone came in begging Monkey Boy to free a love-drugged friend from a guy who can't take no for an answer."

"And Ruba isn't immune to aphrodisiacs." Monkey Fist recalled the chat he had with Sequoia.

"The Scroll Staff of Tabernus," Warheart went on. "The Golden-Faced Mask. The Bracelet of Morpheus Flowers… I still have no clue on the name of the shapeshifter host of Juniper who invented it. The Diamond Goggles of Conditius. The Tranquility Torch…"

"BAD idea!" Ruba snapped.

"But it's the only remaining relic of Magenta the goddess of tranquility."

"Do you have any idea of the alien guarding it? The first time I asked if I could touch it, I almost got blasted in the face."

"Then we'll add it to the list of needed diplomatic approaches." Warheart shrugged. "Pearl's… pearl necklace, how ironic. Ebony's opal? Coralus, do you still have it?" Coralus gave in the nod he wanted. "Good. That makes it two relics we already have. That leaves relics from Royal, Iron, and Cedar. The only Iron relic known to exist is the ruby necklace of Iron's Dunia host."

"The one who tried to rebel and extract Iron out of him?"

"No one knows what the necklace does. Iron had it fossilized in an asteroid chunk and left it to roam around in the universe. Royal's hosts have one relic, a crystal crown that constantly grows depending on a host's lifetime." He hesitated. "I don't know if we should ask Cedar for her hederquail."

"I think she will if you ask her." Ruba's comment surprised the humans. Warheart turned off the holographic projection. "We head to Coraplastia tomorrow. I'll have my mother contact Photuria."

"PLEASE!" Diamona blocked Ruba before she could make her way out. "WHY do every single trip in the last four years require her as your preferred spaceship captain? Can't we change for once?"

Ruba faked pondering and had a headshake follow. "I value your sense of dignity because you're one of my best friends but I can't have racism be the reason why I can't choose the experienced spaceship captain who risked her hide to protect ours in the last four years."

Diamona sighed. "Can't blame a Batrishania girl for trying."

"I never do."

…

Martin didn't manage to sleep later on that night. Knowing he'd only be able to spend his time reading, he snuck out of bed. Gilliard and Cainus will still sleeping deeply through all their snoring. With all the stealth he had, he snuck out of his room and down the stairs to the living room. Van Gogh wasn't on his pillow, so it must mean that he was sleeping in Ruba's room.

He searched through the shelves of tablets and pulled out some related to the topic of the alien gods. Though the tablets did not give the feeling he felt when touching paper that he could turn, Martin had to admit that their digital glossary was efficient. He had no trouble finding chapters related to the relics needed to free Ronilda.

The Cloak of Cougara actually looked terrifying when worn by its creator in the pages. Ruba's predecessor looked like a female Felindrax counterpart of Motor Ed, her bulkier armor tightening the flesh of her massive muscles as she stood on a pyramid of dead dragons. Regardless of their sizes, their darkened necks gave out that she strangled each of them… though he couldn't tell if she strangled them before or after cutting off their skin.

"What are you doing?"

Martin didn't flip when Ruba stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. She was scooping what seemed to be some kind of alien volumed ice cream from a container the size of her rib cage and stuffing it in her mouth. She must have thought that nobody would be downstairs at this time, judging by how Martin could see the purple top and black pant sleeping wear.

"Reading when I have trouble sleeping," he shrugged. "What about you? Emotional midnight snack?"

"Yeah." She sat down on the armchair nearest to his seat on the couch. "I feel bad about upsetting Warheart."

"I'll say. How is it possible that he's related to Wardeth?" Martin had memories of the mad Lorwardian who was so bent on avenging his parents' death and destroying the universe that he only made a proper appearance for a few chapters until a brainwashed Ronilda-in-her-Royilda form impaled him. "Then again, he's so paranoid, how was he elected monarch in the first place?"

"For aliens who value brute force and are unfortunately segregated by other aliens because a small portion hunts sentient beings for fun, the Lorwardians actually value a leader with skills in war and diplomacy," Ruba explained. "Unlike the Felindrax, they determine their people's careers based on their physique status at youth: the strong in military and the weak in science. As for royal candidates, they can pick anyone deemed suitable for the task… Heck, the current monarch can cast his vote as well before he dies…"

"How old was Warheart when he became the Lorwardian monarch?" Martin asked.

"Sixteen."

"That young?"

"It's not like how sixteen marks the beginning of adulthood for us here. The Lorwardian monarchs are generally healthy enough to be succeeded by a twenty-something candidate, but Monarch Warquiver had received an illness due to intoxication by aster sulfur. His Coraplastia healers were unable to extract all the poison out of him without risking their own lives. Before he passed away, he declared in his will that he wanted the next monarch to be a candidate who could better handle people at a time of need and remind them of their true worth. My parents were still in school when Warheart was declared monarch." Ruba leaned on her seat. "You can't even begin to imagine how the first half of his reign was difficult. The Lorwardians were split between those who admired his diplomatic capacities of keeping Lorwadia at peace with the other planets, and the megalomaniac hunters, like his sister, who are responsible for giving their people a bad stereotype."

"I won't lie, I still have a hard time accepting their ideas of succession." Martin rolled his eyes.

"Because they actually let the people decide who should be the leader if the monarch doesn't have an heir?" Ruba finished her ice cream bin. "I thought that what you call democracy was similar."

"Not that! I meant with Waremeralda! I mean… I'm sure you of all people can understand, but I still fail to understand why… I don't know…"

"Emerald has no legitimate claims? That even though they've found a host of Violet, they won't let her go back home…" Ruba looked saddened. This wasn't even a sad look of guilt, but a sad look of depression. Martin recognized it as the expression a mentor has when he feels he has failed a student he cared about.

"Her powers… she received them from her mother, didn't she?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Ruba shook her head. "But you're right about the maternal inheritance. Let's just say her mother is unique and Warheart loves her very much… And Lorwardian matrimonial laws are far more segregated than we are. Imagine the situation: the monarch's crazy sister and her husband get killed by an overpowered shrimp during an illegal invasion, his reputation is briefly soiled, and a few years later, it's revealed he has a relationship with an alien who sired him a bastard. Three weeks after Waremeralda was born, her birthmark's shape was properly seen; her mother figured that if the Felindrax found her with Waremeralda, they'd just kill the baby. Warheart had to raise their child on his own until the Felindrax came to collect her when she had roughly the same age I had when they took me. Warheart did try to convince Ritus and Loyus to let him see her in her foster home, but they refused. It took some _very _painful abuse on them for me to convince the leading idiots to grant Waremeralda permission to see her father… and her mother secretly."

"No wonder she admires you so."

"I should be the one admiring her." Ruba let a small smile out. "If she hadn't used her powers to save me from an accident months after the avalanche fiasco, Violet would have resurrected in me when I jumped in that lava back on Earth."

This gave Martin some surprise. If Waremeralda was capable of saving a godly host from reaching her second strike, then her powers _must _have some pinch of divinity in it. No wonder Ruba threatened his parents, his best friend, and his father's enemy's spouse that she'd murder them if they exposed Emerald's powers to the public.

"So what are you doing, snooping in my family's library?" Ruba asked, changing the topic.

"I read when I can't sleep. I thought I'd do some research on the relics Warheart suggested…"

"Oh, that's easy. You already know that the Cloak of Cougara grants invulnerability to the wearer. The Scroll Staff of Tabernus, a rather lousy relic, mummifies anybody it wraps and forces them to become wise beings."

"How can you force somebody into being wise?"

"By erasing anything in the victim's brains that the user of the Scroll Staff might deem irrelevant or unwise. Then there's the Golden Face Mask. It's pretty much the prototype of what the Canary-worshippers now use to enforce mandatory joy. The Bracelet of Morpheus Flowers sedates attackers into slumber until the pollen wears off, the Diamond Goggles of Conditius, though mainly used for the bling, can grant clairvoyance… though I think it was used primarily for the wearer to stop potential thieves. The Tranquility Torch is the only relic that can grant teleportation and tranquilize angry attackers into being hippies, Ebony's opal's only function is to bear his essence until a future host touches the opal, I have no clue as to what the fossilized ruby necklace and the crystal crown do, and Cedar's hederquail can transform into any object the user chooses. Oh, and Pearl's pearl necklace permits the wearer to detect the purity and impurities in other people! And you already know about Crimson's aphrodisiac bottle."

Martin stared blankly at Ruba.

"What?" She asked.

"What do you mean 'what'?" Martin was baffled. "I'm a treasure hunter and almost every single treasure we're going to hunt down is related to brainwashing! Why would hosts decided to create tools to manipulate their own?"

"I don't think they do it on their own accord." Ruba got up to throw away her empty container, quickly wash her utensil, and come back in the living room. "The relics just… happen to get some weird power once their original owners have died and a new cycle has begun… Even Violet doesn't understand how it works."

Martin gave her a disbelieving look her.

"I'm serious!" Ruba protested. "You think Cougara purposely enchanted her cloak the moment Violet chose her? Cougara happened to be wearing it over her ceremony robes and it happened to be affected at the same time as she did! Next thing you know, after she dies, then the second cycle begins and she has the second host come along, the latter was like 'Oh, I'll wear this relic to honor my predecessor! What's this? The cloak makes me invulnerable and a giant can't stomp on me!'"

Martin blinked. "Just like that? Your predecessors had relics… that were originally trinkets that got enchanted just because they _happened _to be on them?"

"Depends on the trinkets." Ruba shrugged. "My Batrishania predecessor Anemona had nerval enhancement goggles that helped her around with her blindness, but when she was chosen, they got infected and allowed the future hosts to detect body temperatures."

"That's practical." Martin smiled. "Have you used them."

"No, I don't use the relics."

"Why?"

"It's a weird thing with me." Ruba sighed deeply. "Even Violet doesn't understand why, but after I was chosen, I was capable of using the relic's powers without even _touching _them. Heck, they don't even work when I try to use them! And yet they've worked for my predecessors!"

"Do they work if somebody else uses them?"

"Depends." Ruba shrugged. "There's a fifty-fifty chance that they'll work for anyone or they'll serve as inanimate objects to those who aren't connected to the related divinity. Cedar has her relics function _solely _for those who have her power."

Martin turned off the tablet and placed it back on its shelf. "Warheart seemed rather freaked out about the idea of using Royal's scepter…"

"Of course he is. Lorwadia is a mess planet, a fusion of remaining debris from previous apocalypses. No god or goddess created them, so they automatically decided to praise Royal as their deity since he's the gods' king. Naturally, their chaotic natures led to the species' megalomaniacs labeling 'the Great Blue' as a warmongering, bloodthirsty leader, and since Royal has never shown his real face to them, Warheart is freaked out about his people's idea of 'the Almighty One' being a god of war."

"I'm not thinking about the Great Blue nonsense. Killigan brought up a valid point that no one else discussed during the meeting. Ruba, when was the last time we saw the scepter after Ron Stoppable used it to stab Iron back on Earth?"

_The next day_

Coralus cringed as Ron Stoppable adjusted his belt, tightening it to hold the already-tight pants he was wearing.

"Why not just wear a one-piece suit?" Coralus asked. They had left Loyus' house to make their way to the spaceship, where they'd meet the others to go inside the spaceship that will transport them during the new mission.

"Because I don't like the idea of stripping myself just so I can go to the bathroom," Ron said. "Besides, with my past record of pant-losses in my youth, I find a good advantage in transporting the scepter through… something that'll make them too uncomfortable." He tapped on the blue buckle of his belt. Coralus grimaced at the idea that humans would need to inflict pain on their waists just to make sure a thin rope would keep their superiors covered. As if it wasn't already weird enough that Ron had transformed the scepter into said belt.

They reached the spaceship station, where the others were gawking at the magnificence of the _V-Narwhal_, the ship they were going to board on. Motor Ed's mouth was watering at the sight of the spaceship. He almost ran to demolish it until the spaceship's captain punched him in the face. Drakken and Shego had to cover Melgo and Edina's eyes until the captain was done bruising Motor Ed.

"Dude… the chicks here are way too deadly… Seriously…" Motor Ed groaned.

"The 'chick' will make sure your bones get grounded bad enough that not even a robotic body will keep your primitive brain!" The captain snapped. "Now go stand up and shut up unless you're asked!"

Captain Photuria was a Chemilumia woman. Though she had the height and age of a professional female soccer player, her skin was grey, her eyes bloody red, and her head shaven to make room for the red bioluminescent areas showing up, giving Photuria the appearance of someone bleeding her head out after getting at least ten axes through the skull.

"I'll be clear with the rest of you!" Photuria snapped to the other humans. "On my ship, you don't get to speak unless someone of higher position speaks before you or demands your audience! You don't get to use the rooms unless you are escorted by at least one crewmate! You do not get to touch the computers unless granted permission! Any questions?"

Ron Stoppable raised his hand.

"Yes, ye who reproduced a baby monster to a crazy female?" Photuria asked.

"Excuse me?" Kim Possible gasped.

"Do tone it down, Kimberly. The captain didn't give you permission to speak."

It would be to say the least that almost all those who knew him well enough were shocked to see him flatly scold his own wife. He might as well rip off the wedding ring and replace it with a maid's apron.

"Finally! Somebody who respects the spaceship traveling etiquette!" Photuria exclaimed. "Well, except you, Ruba Kala. You already respect the etiquette since you're above everyone else."

Ruba shared an exasperated glance between the captain and her friends. "Gee, thanks."

"So, what is your question?" Photuria went back to Ron Stoppable in a far more polite fashion than she had treated the humans previously.

"Do forgive me, but I felt like I must warn you in advance that I tend to be a depressive, pathetic human who needs to work away his negativity. Is there any chance that a dignified captain like yourself would grant me access to the ship's kitchens during the entire trip?"

What happened next was awfully strange, especially in Coralus' eyes. Due to being forced at the human's right hand, he was spared while he witnessed a blue-colored shield freezing time, preventing the others from seeing or remembering Ron Stoppable as he focused on Photuria. Shivers went down Coralus' spine as he saw the hazel brown eyes turn into infinite shades of blue, sending beams to hypnotize the captain's red eyes.

"_Once I'm done with your hypnosis, you'll make sure that the others stay away from me during the course of the trip!_" Ron snapped his finger, putting Photuria in a trance. The time-freezing shield vanished and Photuria immediately went on to drag Ron Stoppable inside the spaceship. Coralus didn't want to have to turn and see Kim Possible's face, so he went to catch up after Ron Stoppable.

_What is it with that human?_ He asked the god of elegance mentally. _Even with my probable future visions, I can't see what kind of future he's going towards._

_Had he been fully good or fully evil, you'd have seen at least a hundred options_, Ebony spoke to him. _But since he split each side in half and took one piece of each… Coralus, be careful._

_Go figure._

_I'm being serious. This might be the person physically, but internally it is neither the goofy sidekick who used Royal's gift to destroy two Lorwardians nor the over-excelling megalomaniac who outsmarted all. Whatever personality Ron Stoppable developed during the last fourteen years is a force of chaos. If you don't keep an eye out, he might as well be more dangerous than Iron himself._

Great. Coralus was being blackmailed by a mortal human twisted enough to be wore than the god of age. How could things possibly go wrong?


	12. Coraplastia

Ruby and Martin:

Chapter 12: Coraplastia

Martin should have never asked himself how things could possibly go wrong when Ruba's kick sent him flying to the wall.

The moment the _V-Narwhal _took off, he had gone on a tour of the spaceship, but its mechanical wonders did not strike to him as it had for Motor Ed and Edina. He had tried to do some universal web searching when they entered the gal-jumper, but even that didn't strike to him at the moment. So how could he think things would possibly go wrong when Ruba offered to spar with him to burn away the calories?

Well, things went wrong. She managed to beat him 300 times in a row.

"Your mind's not in the challenge right now." Ruba helped him get up. "Maybe we should take a break."

"No, I'll be good." Martin tried to catch his breath but let out a groan of pain when Ruba punched him in the stomach. "Ow! What was that for?"

"How can you say you'll be good when you can't even keep an opponent from punching you in the stomach?" Ruba shook her head. "Maybe we should end it for now. Otherwise you'll have to be sent to the infirmary for potential bone damage."

Martin shuddered at the idea. Then again, he was talking to the girl who had managed to strangle an alpha dragon with her own hands.

"Still, spill it," she told him. "What's bugging you?"

"Stoppable's behavior is really beginning to get the others worried."

"Is it because of the belt?"

"The belt?"

"Yeah, I clearly noticed that he turned Royal's scepter into a belt to keep his pants up. Belts are so primitive, but those who do wear them are usually those who tempt idiots into…"

"I don't want to know!" Martin waved his hand. "I mean everybody's worried at Ron Stoppable's behavior. OK, the part of him lashing out because of what happened with Ronilda makes sense, but hanging out with Coralus? Acting smug? And didn't you see the way he managed to talk through Photuria? She even gave him his own room without a Felindrax escort as if she were some enamored puppy!"

"Martin, if there's one thing that I learned while living with aliens is that everyone in the freaking universe has no problem exploiting, domesticating, or murdering other people. It's the sadness of society these days; it's full of nothing but people who have the worst intentions for you. So no, I would not be surprised if a human was trying to exploit other aliens."

Martin looked deadpan at her. "Your philosophy amazes me," he said sarcastically.

"Trust me, when you've seen the weird stuff that I've seen in outer space, _nothing _surprises you."

"_Hello._"

Ron Stoppable appeared out of nowhere. His sudden appearance got Martin screaming and hiding behind Ruba. She, on the other, looked unfazed.

"Am I interrupting something?" Ron Stoppable couldn't help but snicker at the sight of his foe's son cowering from his mere presence.

"What the heck are you holding?" Ruba pointed at the pastry in the man's hands.

"That?" Ron Stoppable held up the pastry close enough to force the youngsters to inhale its scent. They had to admit, its delicious scent was tantalizing. "I'm planning on bringing this rustic pie as a dessert for dinner to show my gratitude to the captain for granting me access the kitchens. The cooks there have been begging for the recipe."

"I hope it doesn't have meat. Many of the crewmates have been raised under the vegetarian Coraplastia diet."

"No, it's rhubarb and peaches."

Martin scowled behind Ruba. "_Actual _rhubarb and peaches? Or did you enchant them yourself?"

"Tell me yourself." Ron Stoppable pulled out a knife and cut out two slices. "Care for a bite?"

"No thank you," Ruba gestured politely. "The last time a male offered me a pastry in an empty hallway, I woke up nearly married to him." The two men stared at her blankly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Let's not talk about it! You know what, let's go!" Martin grabbed Ruba by the arm and got her away from Ron Stoppable as far as he could. He had to keep checking every minute to make sure the platinum-haired man wasn't following them, but it took five turns around the hallways for Ruba to finally yank herself off.

"You're getting paranoid," she said.

"_How can you be so calm_?" Martin said in disbelief. "He's creepy!"

"What? I refused the pie." Ruba shrugged. "You think I don't know that I should never accept a pastry baked by a stranger without checking to make sure it was poisoned? If that concept had escaped me, I'd be the only godly host known to suffer a stupid ending via poisoned pie."

"Forget the pie! Ron Stoppable was being creepy!"

"Isn't everyone creepy?"

"No!"

"Look, your reason behind your paranoia is understandable, but tone it down a bit. It's increasing the blackness in the marks underneath your eyes." They stepped inside the spaceship's game room, where Killigan was trying to explain the concept of golf to Geni and Vergilus (yes, the freaks had joined along for unspecified reasons), and Warheart and Waremeralda were watching an alien soap opera on the screen with Gilliard and Buffy.

'_But Eimuria, what of our love?'_

'_What are you talking about, Lacunus? Since when was there anything between?_'

'_But I felt it! Admit it! You felt it too back at Mount Lust!'_

'_You think I have obsessive feelings for you? Ha! Five seasons of me throwing lava at you and the message doesn't go through you? You are an Oasia folk, and I am a Pelea folk. This was never going to work, even if I were interested! But I'm not!_'

"Seriously?" Emerald rolled her eyes in disgust.

"I know, right?" Warheart was as incredulous. "Why do they keep teasing that Eimuria and Lacunus will get together? They're clearly not made for each other!"

"Hey, Martin!" Gilliard waved at Martin. "Check it out! The aliens have their own version of AGONY COUNTY!" Martin groaned. He still never understood why Gilliard was so hooked up to that retro sitcom. He blamed Gil Moss for it: the fish mutant had watched the show when he was a teenager and now the interest was passed on to the next generation.

"Is that the new episode of THE SINS IN OUR EMOTIONS?" Ruba rolled her eyes. "Why hasn't Lacunus gotten over Eimuria? She's clearly never going to reciprocate his feelings!"

"Don't tell me you watch this kind of garbage." Martin stared at Ruba.

"What? I'm still a person of my age. Can't I have a regular lifestyle by criticizing characters in soap operas?"

'_I must say, Lecherus. For a married man on hiatus, you sure now how to please a woman.'_

'_What can I say, Trustia? There are times when an alien needs to break loose from his bondage of paranoia.'_

"Ugh!" Ruba and Emerald gagged.

"He's unbelievable!" Warheart was equally disgusted.

"Wait, who is he?" Buffy asked the Lorwardian monarch.

"That's Lecherus, the main antagonist of THE SINS IN OUR EMOTIONS. Long story short, he's on a marriage hiatus with his wife for years, and since they neither divorced nor live together or even SPEAK to each other, he gets all hedonistic! He mixes with the bad crowd, he sells illegal items to the shady traders, and he has flings with numerous aliens. Trustia is like his on-and-off mistress. I REALLY hate that character!"

Martin covered his mouth to keep himself from throwing up.

"Who even released this show?" Buffy asked as the episode ended and Emerald turned off the TV.

"Soap opera directors tend to be anonymous while the actors get all the fame. It's a popular show criticizing the overly-emotional idiots and criticizing the methods of Crimson."

Now Martin really felt himself getting sick. Ruba noticed this and pulled out her tablet.

"What are you doing?" Martin suspiciously asked her. He noticed she was behaving the way typical humans do when they're focusing on texting.

"Messaging Sequoia to get her permission for you to have the all-day treatment at her royal spa."

"WHAT?" He freaked out. He tried to make a grab for her tablet, but she merely pressed a hand on his face to keep him away while she kept texting.

"Already arranged." She put the tablet away.

"WHY?" Martin groaned.

Ruba shrugged. "Relax. You're not going to be alone. You'll be with the Killigans."

"WHY?"

"We didn't get a chance to check out the spas back on the other planet." Killigan helped Vergilus get into the right pose for golfing. "Stoppable mentioned that the Coraplastia and Oasia spas were beyond delightful."

"BEYOND DELIGHTFUL?" What on Earth was going on? Why would Duff Killigan, the world's deadliest golfer, be into SPAS? Sure, he would have understood it if it were to pamper Buffy, but taking suggestions on spas from STOPPABLE? Martin wanted to protest some more, but Ruba had managed to leave the room without making herself noticed.

"Am I the only one noticing that things are wrong?"

"Everything's wrong in life," Emerald shrugged. "We live in a universe where people pride themselves on exploiting what is wrong to crush down what is right." Martin glared at the half-Lorwardian. "You know, the sole reason Ruba has for even setting up fancy stuff like this is for other people is because she worries about them. Then again, I don't blame her. You're really stressed out, and it's understandable."

"I'm not stressed, I'm reasonably paranoid." Martin corrected her.

"You screamed when Ron Stoppable appeared out of nowhere with a pie." Geni commented.

"How do you even know about this?"

"Felindrax security has no sense of privacy. The commercial breaks of THE SINS IN OUR EMOTIONS were just security footage of what happens in the ship," Warheart rolled his eyes.

"Let's just say we got advertisements of Stoppable's cooking, Diamona and Flora sparring, Motor Ed and Edina getting caught snooping through the engine room, and Drakken and Shego…" Emerald got interrupted by a warning glare from her father, "doing… stuff that I should not say out loud."

"Why does this not help me feel better?" Martin arched an eyebrow.

"How about if I put it this way for you?" Geni volunteered. "If Ruba thought you'd need a spa treatment to de-stress yourself, that means she's concerned about you."

This got Martin a bit off guard. "Why would she be concerned about my well-being when hers is a far more delicate situation."

"Because she's stubborn." Geni shrugged.

"Incapable of thinking for her own selfish reasons." Vergilus took a break from golfing lessons.

"She still has her own moments of selfishness," Warheart tried to correct Vergilus.

"Probably in unawareness. Felindrax warriors are trained to serve others, regardless if blood must be sacrificed, and Violet's host finds herself sacrificing anything that makes her like others for the universe's sake," Vergilus started his 'philosophical' approach. "Ruba Kala is uncommon in the standards of both her fellow warriors and her godly host predecessors. Not out of the nature of her species, but the _inner _nature. Hidden emotions only revealed through the actions that differentiate her from the typical bloodthirsty barbarians. Choosing fair judgment and observations rather than direct executions. Her predecessors had relics, powers, cunning, bloodthirst, and a lack of acknowledging their own sufferings, but what Ruba Kala has that speaks out higher than what the others had is her heart."

Everyone stared at him, their eyes blinking.

"_That _is the best smart thing I've _ever_ heard anyone say during this trip, lass," Killigan sniffed.

_The next day_

Coraplastia was quite a sight upon arrival.

Unlike the Felindrax planet, Coraplastia was entirely covered in vegetation. Aside from the few rivers leading to a central lake, there were no oceans.

The _V-Narwhal _pierced through the mint green sky and got close enough for the passenger to see the planet's civilizations. A closer-look managed to get the humans to see that the natural vegetation was also accompanied by massive tree-shaped glass buildings reflecting the nature. Hover rails traveled around the ground, transporting foreigners or Coraplastia going on their duties such as collecting floral materials to bring to the factories (Flora had to explain that Coraplastia's resources revolved around sustainable resources, such as transforming rich tree sap into reusable spaceship fuel, medicines, and floral collections), gardening, and farming at the pharmaceutical plantations.

The spaceship station was next to the royal palace, a green-and-pink glass building nearly resembling a stained glass nest of lotus buds. Monarch Sequoia was waiting for them at the platform. She still wore a one-piece uniform, but her tiara was replaced by a massive emerald lotus crown with dangling pink gems, and she wore over her uniform a green jacket with floral patterns.

"Ruba Kala, daughter of Sharia and Diagnus, and godly host of Violet. Monarch Warheart of Lorwardia, son of Warblade and Warhera," Sequoia greeted with a bow. "I am honored to have you once again on my planet."

"The honor goes to us as well." Ruba spoke as she and Warheart greeted her back.

"You cannot imagine, Sequoia, how grateful we are for you to have responded to our message in such a short amount of time," Warheart nodded to Sequoia. "We firmly believe that the solution to ending thirteen cycles' worth of pain will function better than the initial sadistic approach everyone was rooting for."

"I agree." Sequoia nodded, only to reveal a grim expression. "And I hate to say that the coincidence can't be far from cruel. Juniper's temple was robbed last night…"

"Don't tell me." Martin raised his hand and spoke out in grimness. "Someone made a big mess and made his merry way out with the Bracelet of Morpheus Flowers, you searched the entire planet, interrogated everyone with some truth-serum nectar, but no one has taken or seen it."

His parents gave him warning glances, but Sequoia was too kind. "I admit I'm embarrassed," she admitted. "I made it clear to my message to Ruba and Warheart that Juniper's priests and I were fine with lending the relic, I ensured that the guards at the temple would be doubled and I triple-made sure that the word of the exchange would not spread to any of the Coraplastia citizens. As far as they're concerned, you're only here to witness the music festival."

"Monarch Sequoia, would it be alright if we had a look at the temple?" Kim Possible asked the monarch politely.

"We've inspected it fifteen times and found nothing, but you are welcome to look. Unfortunately, since this is a case we are trying to cover from the public, you'll have to limit the numbers."

"Might I recommend that besides her, Warheart, and myself, that we bring along Monkey Fist, Will Du, Shego, and Geni?" Ruba offered.

"Certainly." Sequoia smiled. "And I haven't forgotten my permission…"

Martin tried to make a run for it. "Oh no, you don't!" The Simian Witch grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Mother!" He complained. She didn't budge and handed Martin to Killigan, who proceeded to carry Martin over his shoulder as if the young man were some weightless flour bag. Naturally, Martin tried to claw himself off Killigan.

"Goodness. Has he always been this stressed?" Sequoia looked worried.

"Don't worry, Ye Highness. The Fiske lad is just very strange at his age." Killigan reassured her.

"Goodness. Hopefully a bath scented by nectar of the sixty roses of Coraplastia will calm him down." She gestured for a guard to escort the Killigans and Martin to the royal spa.

"I HATE YOU ALL!" Martin whined.

"Exactly how much do you spoil him?" Sequoia stared at the Fiskes.

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe how much he does most of the work for us." Monkey Fist rolled his eyes.

_An hour later_

Unlike Violet's temple, centered at the heart of the Felindrax city, Juniper's temple was located in a vast perimeter separating it from the nearest residences. A wall of weaved electric vines surrounded a field were the priests tended to the gardens and birds came to drink at the fountains. The temple itself was composed of pillars of trees, walls of pure glass, and statues representing women healing other beings. The inside itself was a museum: the relics were set on pedestals over an emerald polished floor and protected by green force fields. One small pedestal, however, lacked a force field and relic.

"No windows damaged, no signs of debris, no stranded clues, and nothing that could suggest a security override." Will Du noted. "Whoever stole the bracelet must have been a very professional one at that."

"But perhaps one that isn't as monetary desperate." Monkey Fist commented.

"What are you suggesting?" Sequoia asked.

"There were twelve relics in the temple and the thief just happens to be stealing not only the one we were seeking, but the one that was deemed less important to the worshippers of your deity. Don't you think that for a criminal capable of outsmarting the security, he or she would have stolen something valuable of the time?"

Sequoia pondered a bit. "I haven't thought about it in that perspective."

Ruba and Warheart went through the displayed relics one at a time. "Lord Fiske is correct. The untouched relics here are of high valuable in both mystical and valuable aspects. Each relic had its own healing-based power whereas the bracelet was the only one to bring anesthesia. Not to mention that compared to all of the other relics carved out of pure emeralds and green diamonds, the bracelet's emeralds were imperfect and its primary metal some rusted silver," Warheart nodded.

"Exactly how much of a fortune would any of these relics be?" Kim Possible asked.

"Excluding the bracelet, any of the relics' precious mineral could drive your entire planet's economy bankrupt." Warheart's response made the humans nearly faint. How on earth was it possible that these aliens could be far richer than them?

"Given my expertise from breaking into Crimson's temples, I'd have suggested a shapeshifter posing as a staff member, but Juniper's priests have an anti-shapeshifting protective system," Geni shrugged.

"You're sure it wasn't the staff that could have done this?" Shego asked.

"Doubt it." Sequoia shook her head. "The priests and the temple guards made an oath to Juniper the moment their careers were initiated. Should they betray their patron, they'd combust. And trust me, I've seen it happen."

"No wonder every Coraplastia folk is afraid of fire," Ruba said deadpan. "Monkey Fist, what on Earth are you doing?"

They stared at Monkey Fist, who passed his hand through one of the force fields. The aliens freaked out, expecting him to be combusted or something, but he managed to pass his hands with flying colors, take a relic out of the force field, put it back where he found it, and took his hand off. Sequoia checked his hand.

"How is it possible?" She checked every inch of his skin and fur. "The force field should have burned your skin!"

Shego gave an attempt herself. Unlike Monkey Fist, she screamed when her hand started burning. Warheart pulled her out of the way and took out an emergency kit from his robe. Shego's glove was disintegrated and her skin gave small signs of green-colored burns.

"OK, so your plasma powers managed to keep you from losing a hand, but the force field still rejected you." Warheart tapped some medication on her to have the burns disappear.

"But how is it possible that the force field allowed Monkey Fist to move through it but expelled Shego?" Will Du was confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Geni's question earned confused glances from everyone else. He groaned and grabbed Ruba's hand, forcing her to put it through the force field. She managed to touch it without the risk of burning.

"Of course! Ruba Kala is a godly host… and the Mystical Monkey Power is itself a fragment of godly essence." Monkey Fist realized. "No wonder there weren't any security breaches. The thief had godly essence that permitted him or her to steal the relic in flying colors."

"Remind me to cut the salary of the idiots who constructed the security system!" Sequoia was getting angry in a level past the usual calm demeanor she had. "They didn't even think that a godly host could steal from a goddess's temple."

Ruba spaced out. "Sequoia, Violet doesn't think that a godly host would have done it. Last time she checked, regardless if they were born or forcibly chosen as host, Juniper regularly makes it clear to her hosts that a price comes for disrespecting her legacy. She's not as bad as Iron, but she'd gladly combust them into reincarnation if they try to abuse the gifts she bestows. And there's no way that that other divine hosts would have done it."

"Rather optimistic?" Kim Possible raised her eyebrows.

"Not funny." Ruba scowled.

"Ruba's right. If it were a mere mortal like me robbing a temple, there would be a priest-led manhunt or a sentence via brainwashing," Geni agreed with Ruba. "If a host did the deed, forget being unwelcomed on the temple's planet. There would be a fatal execution and future cycles of the hosted deity being hated by the next generations."

"Then again, I'm not a godly host like Ruba, yet my hand still passed through." Monkey Fist turned to Ruba. "If you had to think of anyone in the universe who had a piece of divine power and stealing just the relic you were looking for, what comes to mind?"

"I'd think of someone with enough brains… oh no…" Ruba's eyes widened.

_Meanwhile_

Martin really didn't like how he could be both uncomfortable AND uncomfortable at the same time with the spa treatment he was getting.

The Coraplastia servants working at the royal spa had taken his clothing for herbal washing, leaving him with a green towel to cover his areas. Like a scared child, he was taken to the massive bathtub bubbling in rainbow colors by a servant.

"The bath scented by nectar of the sixty roses of Coraplastia," the male servant told him, "will soothe your emotional pains while relaxing your physical ones."

"Can't I go for a shower instead?"

"For crying out lass, just relax!" Killigan rolled his eyes. He was in a green bathrobe, enjoying a double-combo of nail grooming and back massage. As for Buffy, she was enjoying a hair grooming and mani-pedi while reading something on a tablet.

Martin looked nervously at the servant and reluctantly gave away his towel. His foot dipped in the warm water, a temperature he generally disliked for bathing, and finally dragged his body in the sugary scent the sixty alien rose petals were unleashing. He clung to the side of the bathtub.

"Which hair treatment lotion would suit you best fragrance-wise?" The servant presented him a box bearing colorful vials. "Morpheus Flowers? Aresian Asters? Oedipusian Oak? Bellerophic Bergamot? Or perhaps Minervian Mint?"

Martin let out a small smile. He did have a fondness for bergamot, a spice generally included in the fabrication of Early Grey tea. He pointed at the vial with orange lotion and the servant squirted out a nail-sized portion. It confused Martin a bit until the servant took one of his monkey hands and applied the lotion on his fur. Martin had to admit, getting his fur washed and brushed was relaxing.

"Her Highness sure does know how to invent great spas," Buffy sighed.

"Yes. Coraplastia spas are very good for people seeking relaxing healing!" A servant nodded.

"You need to relax more!" The servant tending to Martin scolded as he saw the marks on Martin's hands. "You work too much!"

"I try to…"

"You need to take more breaks!" The servant moved on to the next hand. "Then again, considering your age, it's no surprise for a man to be stressed."

"I think you're talking to the wrong man." Martin gave a snickering glance at Killigan, who didn't respond as he was too busy sighing from the massages.

"No, I mean you!" The servant continued talking to Martin. "Normally men at your age are progressing better in their married lives."

This almost made Martin sink lower in the tub. "I'm not married! I'm too young!"

"Oh. Humans marry later in life?"

"Depends on the preferences." Duff shrugged.

Martin didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt drowsy. Sure, the bath was relaxing, but he didn't think it was the reason as to why he felt like his energy was drained.

"Forgive me. I assumed that given the circumstances, you must have been with Ruba Kala."

"Why on Earth would you think of such nonsense, lad? Monkey Boy with that killjoy?" Duff shook his head. "He's already dating someone else."

"Oh. I guess I thought such a thing because Ruba Kala only asks for services like this from monarchs if she wants to give special treatments to those she cares about…"

"Fiske!"

The servant and Duff were alarmed by Buffy jumping off her chair and rushing to the bathtub. The servants freaked out when they saw Buffy pulling out a fainted Martin. His tanned skin lost its color for a more death-like pale value. Blood was dripping out of his skin, which was saying something. For some weird reason, the water underneath the rose petals was now bloody. In the sense that it was actual blood than soap.

"Laddie!" Duff got up and helped his daughter carry Martin to a table.

"Call the monarch!" The servant screamed, alerting guards from the hallway. "Attempted murder at the palace!"

_Meanwhile, in the royal courtyard_

The Simian Witch watched with curiosity as Waremeralda interacted with some hederquails.

Like most of the fauna on Coraplastia, these birds were hybrids of animal and plant. They looked like cute common quails she had seen on Earth, only hederquails were the size of Pomeranian dogs and their plumage was green with feathers shaped like ivy leaves. The tails were longer and thinner than the stomach, giving the Simian Witch the idea of a phoenix switching his fiery tail for a silky one gleaming like numerous emeralds under the sunlight.

She also found it interesting that the moment she and Waremeralda stepped inside the courtyard, hederquails began flying towards Waremeralda. The young half-Lorwardian kept smiling as she fed the birds with treats, gave them little tickles under their necks whenever some came to land on her finger, and giggled when some hederquail chicks came to rub themselves on her after taking a splash in the court fountain. Once again, it was hard to imagine that such a sweet-hearted creature was related to maniacs.

"My mother really has a fondness for hederquails." Emerald helped the Simian hold a chick in her hands. _So fuzzy_, the woman thought.

"Is she from Coraplastia?" the Simian Witch asked.

Emerald shook her head. "She did have a strong connection with a Coraplastia folk. That friend happened to be a hederquail-breeder and her lucky charm was a hederquail jewel. My mom still keeps it since her friend passed away."

"I can understand. My family had a brooch that originally belonged to our ancestor. I keep it in a glass case now ever since I accidentally lost it at a convention." The Simian Witch sighed dreamily. "To think that I met the man who'd become my husband at that convention."

Emerald chuckled in amusement. "He must have been _that _good-looking for you to accidentally lose a family heirloom in a public space!"

"Hey, in my defense, I wasn't looking where I was going, I accidentally ran into him, and since I was full of glee because I was a fan of his works and got to meet him, I didn't notice I lost my brooch until a few hours after I left the convention. He kept it all those years."

"Must have been a great story to tell your son when he was a kid. 'Oh, I used to be such a fangirl of your dad that I lost a valuable treasure from my family, but hey, it all worked out because he gave it back to me a decade later while we were monkey-obsessed criminals, we kept getting defeated by teenagers, and we were so madly in love that we got married!'"

The Simian Witch frowned a bit. "Well, when you put it that way, it does seem kind of weird for a love story."

Just when she said that, the investigation party came back from the temple. Judging by their expressions, the investigation's results did not go that well.

"Take two guesses on who managed to break into the temple and through a force field that didn't repulse the thief because she had godly essence and knew which relic I would go after."

"I predict something!" Emerald waved her hands to mock psychics but then dropped them to give a flat response. "Psycho Witch on Essence Steroids?"

"Is that you're nickname for her?" Ruba frowned.

"Nah, that's what my sixteen-year-old peers dub her. I'd personally go for 'The Essence Devouring Alien Who Has Such A Psychological Villainy She Confuses Ruba So', but I thought it was kind of redundant." Waremeralda shrugged. "So I'm guessing we're gonna have to go after an artificial asteroid belt randomly traveling near the planet's orbit?"

"As if it were that obvious! Honestly, after her robbing the temple with the relic I need, what could possibly go wrong?"

"**MURDER! EVIL! BLASPHEMY! DEMON IN THE PALACE!**" A servant came screaming into the courtyard.

"Emerald, reassure me that Flora isn't around with her Ruba-tempting-fate sack," Ruba groaned.

"No, but judging by the upcoming parade, I think you're gonna need that jar to bail him out." Emerald pointed at Martin, who was being dragged by guards. The Killigans ran past the guards to catch up with Martin's parents.

"What's going on? Why are they dragging my son?" Monkey Fist demanded.

"The lass had a massive leech in his bathtub!" Killigan exclaimed. "His blood nearly replaced the entire water of the tub!"

"Why was there a Coraplastia leech in my palace?" Sequoia marched up to the servant, who bowed before her. "Using that parasite is the most dangerous if the non-violent methods of murder, thus forbidden!"

"How can something be dangerous and non-violent at the same time?" Shego whispered to Kim. The latter shrugged.

"Who cares about the leech?" The servant freaked out. He ran to hide behind the monarch and pointed an angry finger at Martin. "This demon regenerated his blood the moment we brought the healers over! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ONLY CRIMSON'S HOSTS ARE CAPABLE OF RECOVERING FROM MASSIVE BLOOD LOSS!"

This freaked out the visitors, especially the Fiskes, Warheart, and Ruba. This couldn't be a mere mishap: somebody had intended to physically harm Martin to accidentally expose his godly host nature. And knowing how much Juniper worshippers despised Crimson, they looked especially terrified when Sequoia lost all pacifist expressions and pulled out what appeared to be a bamboo staff from her uniform. She twisted the handle to reveal retractable blades on both ends.

"You do realize that if it turns out you lied to me and purposely brought that she-devil's host in my planet, I'd have to violate my pacifist nature and dissect your son organ by organ to make sure that Crimson is gone forever?" Sequoia asked the Fiskes in a very calm, but very hateful tone.

They nearly would have betrayed themselves by gulping if it hadn't been for the insane laughter that interrupted the austere atmosphere. Sequoia and everyone else turned to Waremeralda, who was filming the whole thing on her tablet and laughing her head off.

"Frackle! I can't believe you fell for it!" She kept laughing her head off.

"Waremeralda, what are you doing?" Warheart marched up to his daughter and took the tablet away from her.

"Pulling a prank on the Coraplastia folk."

"Uh huh. Question, why?"

"Oh, no, it's OK, Dad. See, I had these classmates back at the Felindrax planets who told me they'd each give me 30 blights if I could film the Coraplastia folk getting paranoid on a Crimson's host accusation, so I promised them the prank of the cycle! I sprinkled some Lorwardian dragon bone dust on Martin while he was sleeping and I smuggled the Coraplastia leech into the spa's plumbing. I thought it would be funny if your servants thought he was turning into a zombie and also Crimson's host."

Sequoia and Warheart did not look as entertained as she was. Sequoia immediately had her guards release Martin, who immediately got squeezed by his parents hugging him.

"Warheart, discipline your daughter a bit more!" Sequoia told Warheart. He nodded in shame. Sequoia then went to the Fiskes. "I deeply apologize for what I did." She put away her retractable bamboo staff blades. "I can't believe I was almost going to dissect your adorable sweetheart of a son!"

"No offense taken." Martin was still a bit shaken.

"Excuse us, your Majesty, but we and our 'adorable sweetheart' need to have a private discussion with Waremeralda," Monkey Fist said.

_Later, at the V-Narwhal_

"Emerald, you lied to Sequoia?"

The Simian Witch's question startled the assembled group in the spaceship's conference room. After their reaction was done, the Simian Witch explained that ever since they had arrived on this planet, Emerald hadn't even left an inch of the Simian Witch alone. They toured the palace together, drank tea together, and interacted with the hederquails in the courtyard. On a disturbing note, they even went to the bathroom together and the Simian Witch had been grossed out by Emerald's… hereditary urination problems.

"So no, you had absolutely no time to insert a vicious leech in the spa's plumbing system, and let's be real, we all know by now that you don't have your relatives' sadistic sense of humor!"

"Obviously." Emerald rolled her eyes.

"Waremeralda, it's incredibly brave of you to take the blame for something you didn't do and save Martin's life, but what you did was seriously toxic for you." Warheart patiently put a hand on his daughter's head. "Sequoia's the only monarch who respects you as my hybrid bastard. Now she thinks you hurt people for fun like your aunt, uncle, and cousin. She won't give as many liberties as before."

"But Dad, if I hadn't done anything, things would have been worse for any of you!" Emerald said stubbornly. "She'd have Martin dissected, she'd think you and Ruba broke her trust and would cut trades between her planet, Lorwardia, and the Felindrax planet, and who knows what would have happened to the humans? Sequoia and her people would think of fifty methods of execution for them just because they're associated with Martin!"

Martin groaned and buried his face in his hands. His mother held him in her arms for comfort.

"Thank you so much for saving my son, Emerald." Monkey Fist clasped his hands in gratitude. "We wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves if we had to watch him die."

"Then I guess you won't have any problem at being unforgiving to the one who put that leech in the spa's plumbing system…"

"You actually saw who did it?" Kim frowned.

"Yeah, the main valves are located near the damn where they filter the water behind the palace. I saw Ron Stoppable going there when we landed."

"_I knew it!_" Martin stood up in anger but his mother held him back.

"I'd be fine believing that Stoppable is in an emotional turmoil because of Ronilda's disappearance, but please, using my son as a scapegoat to nearly cause a universal conflict?" Monkey Fist shook his head.

"Lord Fiske," Waremeralda sighed. "Unlike you, I actually saw what went on in his head. The man is an outright chaotic hedonist. He may not have made an attempt at murdering anyone yet, but in the last fourteen years, he has traumatized and harmed people psychologically in cruel acts _because he finds it amusing._"


End file.
